The Long Island History Project: Recent Episodes
Chris Kretz
Interviews with historians, scholars, authors and anyone with a story to tell and a passion for this unique region of New York.
Join us for a private tour of the exhibit The Seat of Action: Long Island in the American Revolution and Beyond at the Long Island Museum. Running through October of this year, the exhibit tells the stories of the lives of people affected by the conflict at all levels of society. Joshua Ruff, Co-Executive Director, Collections and Programming, is our guide.
You'll find some familiar faces along with new insights, mysteries, and revelations. There's the sword of loyalist Richard Hewlett, passed down through the same family over decades. There are muskets that Long Islanders carried into war. Belt buckles and ammo unearthed from British forts, portraits of the formerly enslaved, and of course a Culper Spy letter (from Benjamin Tallmadge to Robert Townsend). Along the way Joshua explains the challenges and opportunities this type of exhibit entails, working with the Museum's own collections as well as historical societies, libraries, and private collectors.
The result is a rich experience that is the perfect capstone to this 250th anniversary year of the American Revolution and Long Island history.
Further Research
- The Seat of Action: Long Island in the American Revolution and Beyond
- Samson Occom
- Don Troiani
- Revolutionary Incidents in Huntington: Occupation & Resistance
- Audio Footnotes
- David Bunn Martin and the Shinnecock (episode 29)
- David Griffin and British Forts (episode 137)
- Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
There are untold stories of the American Revolution. We've highlighted many that took place on Long Island but today we follow a remarkable life that started on Long Island in the mid 18th century but wound up in the heart of empire during truly tumultuous times.
Patience Wright was born a Quaker (and a relative of the Townsend family) in Oyster Bay. She had a talent for sculpting and her medium was the wax figure. Her museum in New York City was a popular attraction, featuring lifelike replicas of notable figures. After disaster struck, this widowed mother with four children moved to London and quickly established herself as a local celebrity. Her new museum became a destination for all walks of life. Filled with conviction for the American cause, Patience made no secret of her views and support (although she was not above a little espionage as well).
Dr. Zara Anishanslin has documented Patience's story, along with other artists on both sides of the Atlantic who championed the Revolution, in her book The Painter's Fire (Harvard University Press). On today's episode, we discuss Patience's decidedly unique personality, her Quaker upbringing, the inherent flammability of wax, and the world of London during the height of the American Revolution.
Further Research
- The Painters Fire: A Forgotten History of the Artists Who Championed the Revolution
- Dr. Zara Anishanslin
- William Pitt and Family (Westminster Abbey)
- Thing4Things (Apple Podcasts)
- Audio Footnotes
- "The Death of Woodhull: An American Ballad" (episode 29)
- Kerriann Flnagan Brosky (episode 80)
- Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
Consider the pickle. Whether sour or sweet, sliced or speared, it's a seasoned veteran vegetable with a story to tell. New York plays a big part in that tale, as does Long Island. Today we reach deep into the barrel of food history and talk with Paul van Ravestein, co-author along with Monique Mulder of The Pickled City: The Story of New York Pickles (Princeton Architectural Press 2026).
Paul takes us from the pushcarts and crowded streets of the lower east side to the cucumber farms and pickle factories flanking the Long Island Rail Road in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Along the way we detail the role of the pickle in the economic, social, and culinary history of the region. Syosset, Farmingdale, Greenlawn and other places all had their "pickle kings" who profited from the pickle. Before, enabling a lucrative industry and legacy that lived on well into the 20th century.
Further Research
- The Pickled City: The Story of New York Pickles (Amazon)
- Mattmo Creative Agency
- Street Food City (Museum of Food and Drink)
- Audio Footnotes
- Farmingdale Local History (and Stern's Pickles)
- The Long Island Seed Consortium
- Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
Long Island played a major role in the development of whaling in the Americas. Native Americans along the south shore were well practiced in harvesting whales near the coast. They shared their knowledge with early settlers, leading to chartered companies and competition for what became, for much of the 19th century, a very lucrative industry. And nowhere was this industry more visible than out of Sag Harbor. Men boarded ships for multi-year voyages around the globe, in a dangerous pursuit to hunt, kill, and dismember giant creatures of the sea. And while they worked at this pursuit, they sang.
Stephen Sanfilippo has been tracking whaling songs for the better part of sixty years, preserving and performing them with his wife Susan at festivals, libraries, and historical societies. Some his best finds have come from reading the private journals of seaman in the Sag Harbor whale fishery. These literate young men recorded life on ship, including the lyrics to many of the ballads, shanties, and ditties sung by the crew in the course of their work.
On today's episode, Stephen relates the history and preservation of these songs along with what the sources can and cannot tell us about oral traditions and the life of a whaler. Along the way you'll get a masterclass in the history of Long Island whaling and the chance to sing along.
Related Research
- Isle of Beauty, Fare-Thee-Well (Long Island History Journal)
- "Seasongs" newsletter: email seasonghistory@gmail.com
- Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum
- The Whaling Museum and Education Center (Cold Spring Harbor)
- Whaling bibliography
- Moby Dick, or The Whale by Herman Melville (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Songs the Whalemen Sang by Gale Huntington (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana (find in a library via WorldCat)
- The Sea Lions or The Lost Sealers by James Fenimore Cooper (find in a library via WorldCat)
- LogBook for Grace by Robert Cushman Murphy (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Into the Deep: America, Whaling and the World (PBS)
- Audio Footnotes
- John Strong, Tracing the Whale Design
- Brenna McCormick Thompson, We Were the Whalers
- Music
- Intro: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0; Isle of Beauty, Fare-Thee-Well (Susan and Stephen Sanfilippo)
The Battle of Long Island went down in history as a major defeat for the fledgling American army and George Washington. The fighting in late August 1776 focused around the Gowanus Heights in Brooklyn and saw the patriots outflanked on their left, routed by Hessians in the center, and hunted down across the marshy Gowanus Creek. Washington did manage to evacuate most of his troops but the fight for survival over the coming crucial months left Long Island a bitter memory best left forgotten.
But today we remember with our guide Dan Davis, Senior Education Associate at the American Battlefield Trust. In this 250th anniversary year of the American Revolution, we look back at this pivotal battle. Although a definite military defeat, it produced heroes like William Alexander, Lord Sterling and the men of the 1st Maryland Regiment. And the battle is a great opportunity to discuss the meaning of these sites in the history of America and the importance of preserving them for future generations.
Further Research
- American Battlefield Trust
- Green-Wood Cemetery
- Prospect Park
- American Veterans Archaeological Recovery
- Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
The story of the Carnegie Library in Patchogue is a great case study in library history. The village started with an association library in the late 1800s, a subscription-based collection of books that floated between stores and offices and languished for lack of funds. Then the women's suffragist organization Sorosis spearheaded the effort to turn the neglected collection into a New York State-chartered public library by 1900.
The next leap was a $10,000 donation (later raised to $15,000) from steel magnate and library philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The money funded the construction of a neo-classical building on Lake St. that brought state-of-the-art library service to the people of Patchogue. However, by the end of the 20th century the public library had moved down the block, Briarcliff College had come and gone, and the Carnegie building sat empty, soon endangered by looming development.
The story has a happy ending as the building now sits at the corner of West Main St. and West Ave, serving as a vibrant teen center and a museum for the Greater Patchogue Historical Society. How did that happen? Listen to Patchogue librarians Jessi Bouchelle and Gary Lutz, along with the Historical Society's Steve Lucas, tell the tale.
Further Research
- Teen Center at the Patchogue Carnegie Library
- Patchogue Medford Library History
- Greater Patchogue Historical Society
- Carnegie Libraries Across America
- Van Slyck, Abigail A. "" The Utmost Amount of Effectiv [sic] Accommodation": Andrew Carnegie and the Reform of the American Library." The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 50, no. 4 (1991): 359-383.
- Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
Today's episode is a recording of a panel discussion hosted on January 15, 2026 by the Long Island Library Resources Council. The panelists, all notable historians who have researched the Revolutionary War period on Long Island, give their insights into what life was like in the area from 1776-1783. This time of British occupation saw the inhabitants of Kings, Queens, and Suffolk counties suffer depredations brought on by British and Hessian troops as well as by Patriot attacks from across Long Island Sound. You'll hear about the enslaved Black woman Liss from Oyster Bay, about the activities of the Culper Spy Ring, and the experiences of others ranging from British officer John Simcoe to Elizabeth Lewis, wife of Declaration signatory Francis Lewis.
The panel itself was funded by a WETA grant awarded to LILRC in support of programming related to the PBS documentary The American Revolution by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt.
Further Research
- The American Revolution (PBS)
- Dr. Joanne Grasso
- The American Revolution on Long Island. (Find in a library via WorldCat)
- George Washington's 1790 Grand Tour of Long Island. (Find in a Library via WorldCat)
- Dr. Natalie Naylor
- Women in Long Island's Past: A History of Eminent Ladies and Everyday Lives. (Find in a library via WorldCat)
- Long Island Studies Institute
- Claire Bellerjeau
- Remember Liss.org
- Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution: the True Story of Robert Townsend and Elizabeth. (Find in a library via WorldCat)
- Long Island Library Resources Council
- Feature image from the New York Public Library
- Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
Today we come to praise the one-room schoolhouse of the 19th century (and some of its earlier forebears). Humble in appearance, these buildings might be easy to overlook but their existence hints at a broader social, cultural, and educational history across Long Island.
Zach Studenroth, architectural historian and preservationist, documents this history in Historic Schoolhouses of Long Island from Arcadia Publishing (compiled with his co-author, the late Kurt Kahofer). On today's episode, Zach elaborates on the role of New York State in establishing schools in the 1800s, Walt Whitman's brief foray into teaching, and the surprising afterlife of school buildings as churches, fire houses, and storage sheds.
Further Research
- Historic Schoolhouses of Long Island (Arcadia Publishing)
- Schoolteaching Years (Walt Whitman Archive)
- George Bradford Brainerd (Brooklyn Museum)
- Audio Footnotes
- Episode 89: Walt Whitman's Birthplace
- Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
Steven Damman disappeared from outside a supermarket in East Meadow on Halloween day, 1955. He was not yet three years old. Still unsolved, the case has intrigued many over the ensuing years - none more so than Newsday journalist John Valenti.
For Nothing is Hidden, Valenti's new novel, is the culmination of his meticulous research into the case mixed with his years of observations covering Long Island. He presents a fictional version of the disappearance, substituting the Goodson family for the Dammans, while hewing close to the facts. His book is also populated with events of the day, from the habitual airplane crashes around Mitchel field to the notorious high society shooting of Bobby Woodward that dominated the headlines (and police attention).
On today's episode you'll hear about Valenti's direct ties to the case, his decisions about constructing the narrative, and tales of Newsday legends like Dick Estrin and Bob Waters. You'll also get a journalist's perspective on history, stories, and human nature.
Further Research
- For Nothing is Hidden by John Valenti
- Mitchel Field (AAFHA)
- "Turfman Killed by Wife in Dark." New York Times 10/31/1955
- Leon Errol (IMDB)
- Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
Where history fails to provide, authors of historical fiction can fill the gap. In her new novel To Outwit Them All, author Peggy Wirgau delves into the Revolutionary War history of the Culper Spy Ring. More specifically, she tells the story of the unknown woman referred to in Abraham Woodhull's correspondence – only once – as "a lady of my acquaintance." Woodhull supplies her only a number, 355 (Culper code for "lady"). Wirgau provides a name, a family, and a budding romance with British Major John Andre.
Wirgau's 355 is modeled after the historical Betty Floyd, relative of William Floyd, and she includes multiple layers of period detail about British-occupied New York City. On this episode you'll hear more about how she pursued her research and how she brought Betty to life along with other members of the Culper Ring.
Further Research
- To Outwit Them All by Peggy Wirgau
- "The Myth of Agent 355, the Woman Spy Who Supposedly Helped Win the Revolutionary War"
- HMS Jersey
- Historical Novel Society
- Cover image:
- The Art of Dancing (1724)
- The Culper Spy Book
- Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
Even as Hitler and his Nazi regime ran roughshod over Germany and Europe in the 1930s, there were those in America who championed their rise. And nowhere so much as on Long Island. Camp Siegfried in Yaphank became a focal point for certain German Americans to gather and espouse the Nazi cause. Other groups added fuel to the fire, promoting antisemitism, isolationism, and even the overthrow of the United States government.
This is the world that Christopher Verga captures in his new book, Nazis of Long Island: Sedition, Espionage & the Plot Against America (out now from the History Press). On today's episode, Chris walks us through the tangled history of the German American Bund, Father Coughlin, the America First movement, and more. His book documents a time of unrest in the country when militias, foreign agents, and even elected officials actively opposed the American government.
Further Research
- Nazis of Long Island: Sedition, Espionage & the Plot Against America (Amazon)
- Christopher Verga
- Longwood Public Library Bayles Local History Room
- The German American Bund
- Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
Christian Avenue sits at the heart of the Three Village area on the North Shore of Long Island. Surrounded by Old Fields, Setauket, and Stony Brook it has long been home to a community of Black and Native American families. The names of the people date back to before the Revolution and include the Harts, Sells, Greens, and Tobias. They also provide evidence of the perpetual presence of the Setalcott Indians and their ties to the Shinnecock.
Now designated as the Bethel-Christian Avenue-Laurel Hill Historical District, it's an area steeped in history. That's what drew Glenda Dickerson to develop her Eel Catching in Setauket oral history project in the late 1980s. A professor of theater at Stony Brook University, Glenda, her students, and colleagues like Fai Walker and Noberto Valle set out to document and celebrate the history and heritage of Christian Avenue. The project culminated with a theatrical production at Stony Brook.
Glenda donated all of her materials from the project to the Three Village Historical Society. Today we sit down with Scott Ferrara, the Society's curator, and Rob Anen of the Long Island Library Resources Council to discuss the history of Christian Avenue, the history of the recordings, and the important stories they tell.
Voices on the episode:
- Glenda Dickerson
- Lucy Hart Keyes
- Sarah Hart Hines, Theodore Green, and Caroline Sells Moore
- Florence Beatrice Sells Woodhull and Violet Rebecca Sells Thompson
- Ida Mae Glass and Barbara Treadwell
- Cast members performing in Eel Catching in Setauket
Further Research
- Eel Catching in Setauket – An Oral History Collection
- Three Village Oral History Collection
- Glenda Dickerson
- Setalcott Indian Nation
- Shinnecock Nation
- Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
Culper Spy Day has been an annual tradition on Long Island for over a decade. Created by Margo Arceri in conjunction with the Three Village Historical Society, it has grown into a weekend-long celebration of resilience and resistance during the Revolutionary War. I made the trip this year to experience the sights and sounds and mingle with people who share a similar passion for local history.
You'll hear from organizers, authors, librarians, historical reenactors, and visitors from near and far. Each has their own story to tell about how they became fascinated with the Culper Spy Ring and figures such as Benjamin Tallmadge, Abraham Woodhull, and Anna (Nancy) Smith Strong.
And if you missed it, don't worry. Next year will be a mega Culper Spy Day coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
Further Research
- Three Village Historical Society
- Three Village Community Trust
- Setalcott Indian Nation
- George Washington’s Culper Spy Ring (Emma S. Clark Library)
- Second Regiment Light Dragoons
- The Brewster House
- 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers
- Drowned Meadow Cabin
- Tri-Spy Tours
- Authors Row
- Sarah Beth Durst, Spy Ring
- Peggy Wirgau, To Outwit Them All
- Mark Sternberg, Culper Spy Austin Roe…the Joiner?
- Kristina Raevsky, Marriage or Espionage: Read Between the Lines
- Richard Welch, General Washington’s Commando
- Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
Are you curious about the past and love talking to people? Do you have a keen eye for detail and a persistent yet welcoming demeanor? Then oral history may just be right for you! Today we're talking with Erica Fugger, oral historian and PhD candidate at Rutgers, about the art and craft of oral history.
We'll be discussing the development of oral history as a practice since the mid 20th century, detailing how to plan an oral history project, and offering tips for recording that first interview. Along the way you'll hear about the fascinating projects Erica has been involved in, from Queer Newark to the National Homefront Project. Now pursuing research into peace activists in the 1960s, Erica has her own ties to Long Island and is the perfect guide if you're thinking about getting involved in oral history yourself.
Further Research
- Erica Fugger
- Queer Newark Oral History Project
- National Home Front Project
- Columbia Center for Oral History Research
- “Before Columbia: The FWP and American Oral History Research.” (JSTOR)
- Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
Chances are that your local public library has a local history librarian who oversees a rich collection of images, artifacts, and information about your community. Today we highlight and celebrate one of this unique group - Natalie Korsavidis. She is the local history librarian at Farmingdale Public Library in Nassau (and a little bit of Suffolk) County.
Natalie walks us through how she became a local history librarian and the collection she oversees at the library. From this treasure trove she can tell the story of the early days when the area was known as Hardscrabble, through the years of agricultural development, to the heyday of aviation giants like Grumman, Fairchild, Republic, and Liberty. You’ll also hear how she engages with the community and about the two bygone businesses that never fail to bring a smile to Farmingdalers (hint: Stern’s Pickles is one).
Further Research
- Farmingdale Public Library Local History Resources
- Farmingdale Historical Collection (New York Heritage)
- American Airpower Museum
- Beyond the Rotunda podcast
- Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
We continue our tour of Long Island-based oral history collections. This time out, Robert Anen (LILRC Project Archivist) and I sat down with the Long Beach Historical & Preservation Society. Robert helped digitize their extensive oral history collection. The recordings cover a wide range of memories and experiences from residents of the City by The Sea. You’ll hear about the father of Long Beach, developer, politician, and consummate self-promoter William H. Reynolds. You’ll also hear about the highlights of the city’s Roaring 20s golden age, the political intrigues of a growing city, and the transformations brought on by World War II.
In the room with us are Phyllis Ginsberg, Dan Moran, Joanne Belli, Kathi Lismore, and current society president Jeanne Browne. But the real special guests are the people on the tapes, expertly interviewed by Florence Reich First. Florence was a founding member of the society and undertook this oral history project in the early 1980s.
Oral history recordings from the podcast (by order of appearance):
- Florence Reich (w Helen Smith Hart)
- Andrew Carlo
- Foster Vogel
- Daphne Mulligan Schlaich
- Mary Hoff Katris
- William McGovern
- William Schwartz (w Roberta Fiore)
- Amy Rabinowitz Cohen nee Schloss
- Peggy Wood Lieberman
Further Research
- Long Beach Oral History Collection (NY Heritage)
- Long Beach Historical and Preservation Society
- The Lido Club Hotel
- Dreamland Postcards (Coney Island History Project)
- Music
- Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
Robert Beattie was many things: an architect, a designer of iconic public buildings on Long Island, and a decorated World War II veteran. But most importantly, he was the father of today’s guest, Richard Beattie. So we’re celebrating Father’s Day by celebrating the life and work of Robert Beattie.
As an architect, Beattie’s specialty was mid-century modern architecture. Working with clean lines, natural light, and an appreciation of the surrounding landscape, he designed many iconic buildings in our area. If you live in the town of Islip, you’ll know his MacArthur Airport terminal, the core buildings of Suffolk County Community College’s Ammerman Campus, and St. Lawrence Church in Sayville.
Richard takes us on a tour of his father’s buildings and details his life. Robert was part of the Greatest Generation, earning a Silver Star as an Alamo Scout in the Philippines. He got his start in architecture with the firm Shreve, Lamb & Harmon in New York City. Robert then founded his own firm, Dobecki & Beattie, and embarked on a storied career on Long Island. We discuss the changing architectural landscape of Long Island in the 1960s, the Beattie family’s connections to Oakdale, and Robert’s devotion to being a father and an architect.
Further Research
- Robert Beattie, Architect (Facebook Memorial page)
- Church of St. Lawrence the Martyr
- AIA Long Island
- “Pockets of Long Island Once Went Crazy for Modernism. Why?” (Metropolis)
- Audio Footnotes
- Episode 192 Jones Beach Theater with Richard Beattie
- Episode 34 Old Mansions (Oakdale) with George Davies
- Episode 94 Flying on Long Island with Walter Winnicki and Bob Mott
- Music
- Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
There’s a rough stretch of water between Australia and Tasmania called the Bass Strait. Within the strait there’s a group of islands called the Furneaux Group. Within the group lies Long Island, a small, mostly-uninhabited stretch of grass and trees that attracted the attention of Madeleine Bessel-Koprek and her colleagues.
We’re traveling far afield on today’s episode, discussing paleoecology with Madeine, a Ph.D. student at Australian National University. Along with Simon Graeme Haberle, Stefania Ondei, Stephen Harris, and David MJS Bowman, she recently published a study unraveling the ecological history of their Long Island. It’s a fascinating combination of diligent field work – digging through mud and picking through moss- and meticulous lab work – pouring through microscopic samples and digitally deciphering aerial photographs.
Their scientific detective work uncovers a natural world that has in some ways persisted since the last Ice Age and helps inform our understanding of the impact of aboriginal and colonial activities in the area.
Further Research
- Madeleine Bessell‑Koprek
- at Australian National University
- at LinkedIn
- Bessell-Koprek, M., Haberle, S. G., Ondei, S., Harris, S., & Bowman, D. M. (2025). Reconstructing the long-term ecological history of Long Island, Furneaux Group (Bass Strait), Lutruwita/Tasmania. Regional Environmental Change, 25(1), 1-15.
- The Land Bridge: A World Beneath the Sea (A Wind & Sky Project)
- Australasian Pollen and Spore Atlas
- Music
- Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
The voices of the past are all around us, if you know how to listen. And sometimes those voices are trapped on small thin strips of tape wrapped in cheap plastic. That’s where Robert Anen comes in. As project archivist for the Long Island Library Resources Council, he works with historical collections across Nassau and Suffolk counties. Specializing in audio preservation and digitization, he’s rescued a number of collections – copying them to digital media and making them publicly available online.
Today we focus on Robert’s work with one of the oldest oral history collections on Long Island at the Manhasset Public Library. Library director Maggie Gough introduces us to the scope and depth of their oral history collection while Antonia Mattheou, their consulting archivist, helps us unpack the history contained on the recordings.
Special shout out to Manhasset’s first librarian Ruth Cowell who conducted most of the oral history interviews. Her foresight, along with a committed group of patrons, means that we get to listen to memories of the Blizzard of 1888 and the Vanderbilt Cup Races from those who experienced them. Recorded in 1953 on a reel to reel recorder, the interviews were converted to cassette tapes sometime in the 1980s before Rob digitized them in the 21st century,
On today’s episode you’ll hear from these Manhasset residents:
- Ernest Willets
- Herbert Fish
- Laura Schneider
- Ernest Willets
- George D. Smith
Further Research
- Manhasset Public Library Oral History Collection (1953-1988)
- Manhasset Public Library History Center
- Long Island Library Resources Council
- The Whitney Greentree Estate
- Spinney Hill, the African American History of Manhasset and Great Neck
- Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
Isle of Ever is Jen Calonita’s newest middle grade novel, a story grounded in the history of Long Island’s North Fork. On today’s episode, Jen discusses growing up on Long Island and spending many summers at her grandparents’ house in Mattituck. It was here, in between trips to Greenport, that she first heard tell of Captain Kidd’s lost treasure. She tried digging up the local beach, came up empty, but the idea buried itself in Jen’s mind.
Now she has worked her experiences into the tale of Benny Benedict, a young girl caught up in a race to solve a puzzle and claim an inheritance. The plot and the clues to the mystery are tied up in Greenport’s history. Jen walks us through the Greenport locales and local legends that made it into the book in one form or another.
We also talk about her love of reading and of middle grade and young adult fiction.
Further Resources
- Jen Calonita
- Isle of Ever (Sourcebooks)
- Long Beach Bar ‘Bug’ Light
- Preston’s
- Greenport Carousel (temporarily closed)
- Sweet Valley High (Good Reads)
- Steven Kellogg
- Music:
- Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
Tom McKeown lived and breathed basketball throughout junior and senior high school in Babylon. As an eighth grader in 1974-1975, he got to experience the thrill of watching the varsity team win their league and the Suffolk County championships. As fate would have it, this was also the first year that New York State allowed county champions to play each other, setting up a showdown between Babylon’s Panthers and Nassau County’s champs, the South Side Cyclones of Rockville Center.
It was an epic season that engaged Tom so deeply that he has written his version of the story as This Is Panther Country. We don’t want to spoil the outcome but the subtitle is A Memoir of Youth, Underdog Spirit, and Basketball Glory. Available March 18, 2025, the book chronicles life on the court, in the school hallways, and in the McKeown family home on Coppertree Lane. You’ll learn a lot about the ins-and-outs of basketball tournaments but you’ll also be pulled back to your own high school days of close friend groups, petty slights, unrequited crushes, and weekend parties.
Further Research
- This is Panther Country by Tom McKeown
- Babylon Jr/Sr High School
- Glenn Vickers (Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame)
- “The ABA was Short Lived, but Its Impact on Basketball is Eternal” (Smithsonian Mag)
- Audio Footnotes:
- Mickey Quinn and St. John the Baptist High School (episode 133)
When Jessie Pierson and Lodowick Post argued over a fox in early 19th century Southampton, they probably didn’t think the resulting court case would echo down the ages. Yet here we are 220 years later talking with legal historian Angela Fernandez about the odd, improbable history of Pierson v Post.
A professor of law and history at the University of Toronto, Fernandez has delved deep into the case. Her “legal archaeology” uncovered important, presumed-lost information on the early phases of the proceedings. Her 2018 book Pierson v. Post, The Hunt for the Fox: Law and Professionalization in American Legal Culture, unpacks more of the impact and context around the decision.
On today’s episode we discuss the local history surrounding the case, more about the Piersons and the Posts, and the surprisingly whimsical inner life of the legal profession.
Further Research
- Angela Fernandez (University of Toronto)
- Fernandez, Angela. Pierson v. Post, the hunt for the fox: Law and professionalization in American legal culture. Cambridge University Press, 2018. (Find in a library via WorldCat)
- Fernandez, Angela. “The lost record of Pierson v. Post, the famous fox case.” Law and History Review 27, no. 1 (2009): 149-178.
- Pierson v Post NYS Supreme Court
The science of genetics took a wrong turn in the early 20th century and it ran through Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. Here overlooking a former whaling port, Dr. Charles Benedict Davenport created the Eugenics Record Office and served as director of the Carnegie Institution’s Station for Experimental Evolution. From these posts he promoted and pushed the Eugenics Movement in the US and throughout the world.
Historian and attorney Mark Torres has explored the far reaching and sinister influence of Davenport’s activities in his new book Long Island and the Legacy of Eugenics: Station of Intolerance (Arcadia Press). It is not the story of a fringe movement but of “the rage of the age.” Eugenics, which sought to control the development of the human race through such means as selective breeding, segregation, and forced sterilizations, was touted by politicians, intellectuals, academics, and even Supreme Court justices.
In his work, Torres traces a sinister strategy that included legislative control, the trappings of academic credentials, and partnerships with like-minded movements like the emerging Nazi Party in Germany. On today’s interview you’ll hear more about the people involved, the power they wielded, and their surprising, ultimate fate.
Further Research
- Mark Torres
- Long Island and the Legacy of Eugenics (Arcadia Publishing)
- Eugenics Record Office Collection (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Audio Footnotes:
- Episode 138: Long Island Migrant Labor Camps with Mark Torres
- Music
- Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
Memorial Day 1949 was an auspicious day in Riverhead as it saw the inaugural game at the brand new Wivchar Stadium on Harrison Ave. The brainchild of Tony Wivchar, a local entrepreneur and owner of an earth-moving company, the venue soon came to be known as Riverhead Stadium.
Although it only existed for a few brief years, the stadium was alive with excitement. To help drum up interest, Wivchar formed the Riverhead Falcons baseball team out of local talent to play in exhibition games. Their opponents ranged from Negro League stalwarts such as the Black Yankees to barnstorming attractions like the House of David. Other events included women’s softball, rodeos, and professional wrestling. By the mid-1950s, however, the stadium was gone with little left to mark its passing.
Enter Fabio Montella – Suffolk County Community College librarian, history professor, and friend of the podcast. As part of his on-going explorations of baseball in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Montella became aware of the stadium’s short but illustrious existence. He was able to uncover more about Wivchar’s past and his pursuits, even finding and interviewing Wivhcar’s wife and daughter.
The result, as today’s episode will attest, is a fascinating glimpse into one man’s passion and the field of dreams he built to contain it.
Further Research
- “Riverhead Stadium Opens.” County Review, May 26, 1949
- “Giving the House a Home” [House of David baseball]
- Audio Footnotes:
- More episodes with Fabio Montella
- Music
- Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
The Dutch held on to their New Netherland colony for some forty years. They lost it to the English twice, at gunpoint in 1664 and by treaty in 1674. But although officially gone, the Dutch were not forgotten. In addition to their cultural legacy, the Dutch language held on stubbornly across the region for a long time.
How long? That’s the question Dr. Kieran O’Keefe answers in “When Did New York Stop Speaking Dutch? The Persistence of the Dutch Language in Old New Netherland” (New York History journal, 2024). He tracks the long history of Dutch-language speakers across the centuries, finding traces of it in Revolutionary War records, cemetery headstones, contemporary travel accounts, and in enslaved people like Sojourner Truth, taught it by their Dutch owners.
We unpack it all in this interview, touching on old Brooklyn, the Queens-Nassau border, Albany, and other enclaves up the Hudson Valley. Along the way Martin Van Buren and Sinterklaas make an appearance as evidence of Dutch influence.
Despite their short-lived enterprise on the East Coast, the Dutch (along with their language) made a long-lasting impression. When did New York stop speaking Dutch? The answer will surprise you.
Further Research
- O’Keefe, Kieran J. “When Did New York Stop Speaking Dutch? The Persistence of the Dutch Language in Old New Netherland.” New York History 104, no. 1 (2024): 150-170.
- Dr. Kieran O’Keefe at Lyon College
- The New Amsterdam Project
- A Tour of New Netherland (New Netherland Institute)
- Featured image: George Henry Boughton (1833-1905), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Music
- Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
The science of the brain was changing throughout the 19th century. Medical researchers were peering ever deeper into cerebral mysteries and one question piqued their interest more than any other: who has the biggest brain?
On today’s episode we turn for answers to Dr. James R. Wright, medical historian and retired professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Calgary. He introduces us to brain clubs, mutual autopsy societies and above all, the American Anthropometric Society of Philadelphia. The AAS had a particular interest in collecting and studying the brains of prominent scientists and intellectuals. You can imagine their excitement then, when Walt Whitman died in 1892 not far from their laboratory.
Wright walks us through the ensuing complicated tale uncovered by him and other historians. Did Whitman really donate his brain to science? Why did Henry Ware Cattelll, who performed the autopsy, keep changing his story? And how does eBay and the 1931 movie Frankenstein play into it all?
Join us for a special Halloween episode that is not for the feint of heart.
Further Research
- Wright Jr, James R. “Henry Ware Cattell and Walt Whitman’s brain.” Clinical Anatomy 31, no. 7 (2018): 988-996.
- Hecht, Jennifer. The end of the soul: scientific modernity, atheism, and anthropology in France. Columbia University Press, 2005. (Find in a library via WorldCat)
- Burrell, Brian. “The Strange Fate of Whitman’s Brain.” Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 20, no. 3/4 (2003).
- Gosline, Sheldon Lee. “” I Am a fool”: Dr. Henry Cattell’s private confession about what happened to Whitman’s brain.” Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 31, no. 4 (2014).
- The Walt Whitman House. Camden, NJ
- Music
- Horror Music by Tele50 via Pixabay.
- Glass Jar Tap by ekfink. License: Creative Commons 0
- Funny Halloween by FASSounds via Pixabay
Edward Lange was a German artist who started his career on Long Island in the late 19th century. He meticulously captured the landscape and built environment across the island from Flushing to Sag Harbor in water color paintings rich in detail and charm.
Preservation Long Island has just published Promoting Long Island: The Art of Edward Lange, 1870-1889 by chief curator and director of collections Lauren Brincat and former curatorial fellow Peter Fedoryk. The book features over 100 color reproductions of Lange’s work along with essays from Brincat, Fedoryk, and contributors Jennifer L. Anderson, Thomas Busciglio-Ritter, and Joshua M. Ruff.
On today’s episode, Brincat and Fedoryk discuss their work on the book including the new research that fills in the gaps of Lange’s family and education. We also talk about his entrepreneurial drive, his love of photography, and the life of a landscape painter on a Long Island that was rapidly turning from bucolic farmland to a vacation destination.
Further Research
- Order the book
- Authors Talk and Book Signing 11/16/24
- Edward Lange exhibition
- The Art of Edward Lange
- “The Tile Club at Play“, Scribner’s Monthly, February 1879 (Google Books)
- William Sidney Mount (National Gallery of Art)
- Music
- Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
The Association of Public Historians of New York State held their annual conference at Danford’s in Port Jefferson this year, gathering public historians from all corners of the state to discuss resources, projects, and to provide a great opportunity for people to talk history.
The Long Island History Project was there to hold a workshop, “How to Be a Podcast Guest.” Today’s episode features the brave individuals who sat down at the mics and told us a little bit about their work, the challenges they face, and where exactly “upstate” begins.
Further Research
- Association of Public Historians of New York State
- Ross Lumpkin
- North Hempstead Town Historian
- Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society
- Marilyn Hayden
- Greenwood Lake Village Historian
- Amy Folk
- Southold Town Historian
- Oyster Pond Historical Society
- Southold Historical Museum
- Debra Allen
- Oswego County Historian
- Gabrielle
- Brightwaters Historical Society
- John Tracy
- Robert Finnegan
- Historical Society of Islip Hamlet
- Regina Feeney
- Freeport Village Historian
- Freeport Memorial Library
- Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
Robert Moses had a vision for Jones Beach in the 1920s that included a theater to bring high quality entertainment to the people. That theater on Zachs Bay went through a number of iterations but reached its height from 1954-1977 when it was under the direction of Guy Lombardo. Along with his brothers Carmen and Lebert, the Canadian-born band leader/impresario brought Broadway shows and original productions to the beach. Their stage was an 8,200-seat amphitheater with a host of spectacular additions including icebergs, waterfalls, showboats, and floating mansions.
Richard Arnold Beattie got more than a front row seat, performing as a child actor in The Sound of Music and The King and I at Zachs Bay in the early 1970s. Although he went on to a career that included journalism, songwriting, and audio production, he never forgot his time at the Jones Beach Theater. He has captured the experience in a new audio documentary called From Broadway to Jones Beach, streaming now on Spotify and planned to be repackaged as an audiobook.
Hear more on today’s episode about the development of the Jones Beach Marine Theater and its connections to Broadway history and the Lombardo family who lived in nearby Freeport. You’ll also get a preview of Richard’s documentary through interviews with actors Connie Towers and June Angela.
If you like your Broadway big – including Nazis in speedboats and sharks circling the stage – then you’ll love this story.
Further Research
- From Broadway to Jones Beach (Spotify)
- Louis Armstrong “Mardi Gras” with Guy Lombardo
- List of Jones Beach Theater productions (OVRTUR)
- Sound effect
- Overture and Fanfare.wav by Anapwodicn - License: Creative Commons 0
- Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
An obscure bit of early 20th century technology embroiled Dr. Woody Register in a murder mystery. Register, a professor of history at the University of the South (Sewanee), became intrigued by the detective dictograph and followed its trail to the 1914 murder of Louise Bailey in Freeport. Mrs. Bailey was shot in the Merrick Road office of Dr. Edward Carman. Dr. Carman's wife, Florence, had secretly installed a dictograph in her husband's office hoping to capture evidence of his philandering.
What followed was a media frenzy of an investigation that played out in countless inches of newspaper columns across the country. Register's 2014 essay in the Journal of Theory and Practice examined the case, the surrounding newspaper coverage, and the legal, social, and philosophical issues that lay at its heart. We do not find all the answers but on this episode you'll hear more about the tragic crime that rocked Freeport and momentarily knocked the First World War off of the front page.
Further Research
- Woody Register (University of the South)
- "Some truths about the rumors, gossip, hearsay, and innuendo surrounding the Freeport murder mystery of 1914."
- The Muckers: A Narrative of the Crapshooters Club (Amazon)
- The Roberson Project on Slavery, Race, and Reconciliation.
- "What is the Limit of a Married Woman's Jealousy?" (Chronicling America)
- A Suspicious Wife (IMDB)
- Mrs. Balfame by Gertrude Atherton (Google Books)
Librarian and baseball historian Fabio Montella returns to the podcast to bring us the story of Ralph “Sammy” Bunn. Bunn was a Setauket native who excelled at baseball all his life. A star athlete in high school in the 1930s, he went on to play for decades on a number of teams and leagues in the makeshift world of community baseball in Suffolk County. His short stint pitching for the Brookhaven Highway Department team (starting in 1939) makes Bunn, by Montella’s research, the first documented Black player to break the color barrier on Long Island. (Bunn was soon followed by his Brookhaven teammate Kenneth Sells.)
On today’s episode Montella describes Bunn’s storied career in baseball and his life as a dedicated family man and World War II veteran. Working with Sammy’s son, Ralph Jr., and his nephew Carlton Edwards (an accomplished player in his own right) Montella brought to light many details, including Ralph’s Shinnecock heritage, a fact not mentioned in contemporary accounts. You’ll also hear more about the world of community and semiprofessional baseball on the Island along with other teams like the Suffolk Giants and the Huntington Police Department who make it such an interesting glimpse into local history.
Further Research
- Fabio Montella
- “The Suffolk Giants of Setauket: From Segregation to Integration.“
- Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
- Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame
- Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
- Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
- Audio footnotes (past episodes with Fabio Montella):
- The Arthur Murray Girls Baseball Team
- Satchel Paige in Riverhead
- The Cuban Giants of Long Island
Greig Stewart “Chubby” Jackson was a swinging sensation in his day. A child of vaudevillians, he was raised in an enclave of actors, musicians, and performers in Freeport, Long Island against the backdrop of Prohibition and a burgeoning club scene. Exposed to music at an early age, he jumped from high school to playing bass in swing bands in New York City and on the road, most notably with bandleader Woody Herman.
On today’s episode we trace the life of the man with three very special guests: Freeport Village historian Regina Feeney, jazz historian Scott Yanow, and Chubby’s daughter Jaijai Jackson. And thanks to Monk Rowe and the Fillius Jazz Archive at Hamilton College, we can add in the voice of Chubby himself.
Chubby was a colleague to Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and other jazz greats (you’ll see him near the top of the steps in A Great Day in Harlem). His career spans the height of the swing era and the rise of bop with a side trip into headlining several kiddie TV shows in Chicago and New York. Through it all the constants in his life remained the love of family, of performing, and of Freeport.
Further Research
- Chubby Jackson oral history (Fillius Jazz Archive at Hamilton College)
- Freeport History Encyclopedia (Freeport Public Library)
- Jazz Network Worldwide
- Not Just Jazz Network
- Scott Yanow, journalist and historian
- Music credits from Freesound.org
- Jazz Bass B 1.OGG by gregstermatic. License: Creative Commons 0
- Double bass Jazz loop by elzozo. License: Creative Commons 0
- Jazz loop.wav by FrankyBoomer. License: Creative Commons 0
The Long Island-born, Yale-educated Benjamin Tallmadge seized his moment to shine in the American Revolution. Whether fighting the British on horseback with the 2nd Continental Dragoons or uncovering their secrets through his agents in the Culper Spy Ring, Tallmadge kept up a hectic pace. You can also throw in maritime battles on the Long Island Sound and daring raids behind enemy lines.
Historian Richard Welch documented Tallmadge's eventful life in his 2014 book General Washington's Commando: Benjamin Tallmadge in the Revolutionary War. On today's episode he explains the significance of this important figure in Long Island and American history. He also helps illustrate the nature of British activity in the New York region, the documentary trail he followed, and what questions were left unanswered.
Further Research
- General Washington's Commando: Benjamin Tallmadge in the Revolutionary War by Richard Welch (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Memoir of Col. Benjamin Tallmadge (Google Books)
- The Battle of Brooklyn/Long Island (American Battlefield Trust)
- The Death of John André (William Clements library)
- Audio Footnotes
- All episodes on the American Revolution
Dr. Tammy C. Owens of Skidmore College joins us to discuss her 2019 article "Fugitive Literati: Black Girls' Writing as a Tool of Kinship and Power at the Howard School." Having discovered a treasure trove of letters written in the early 1900s by girls at the Howard Orphanage and Industrial School, Owens was off on a journey to learn more. The research took her from the Schomburg Center in Harlem to Tuskegee University in Alabama and, ultimately, to the doorstep of the Kings Park Heritage Museum.
What Owens pieced together was the story of young Black orphans forging connections and support networks through a unique institution known by some as the Tuskegee of the North. The letters she found tell personal and sometimes painful stories, often by the details which they leave out. Owens' research brings to light voices that are often overlooked or missing from archival collections. We hear her thoughts on the process, the historians and authors who inspire her, and the story of her life-changing day riding around Kings Park with Leo P. Ostebo.
Further Research
- Owens, T. C. (2019). Fugitive literati: Black girls’ writing as a tool of kinship and power at the Howard School. Women, Gender, and Families of Color, 7(1), 56–79. https://doi.org/10.5406/womgenfamcol.7.1.0056
- Howard Orphanage and Industrial School Photograph Collection (NYPL Schomburg Center)
- Leo P. Ostebo Kings Park Heritage Museum
- Tuskegee University History and Mission
- Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route by Saidiya Hartman (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet A. Jacobs (find in a library via WorldCat)
- The Bondwoman’s Narrative by Hannah Craft (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Darlene Clark Hine
While Long Island developed a reputation for affluence throughout the 20th Century, there has always been a parallel history of the everyday workers and servants who toiled in the shadow of that reputation. The economic boom of the war years and the subsequent population boom in the 1950s did not change that.
Tim Keogh, assistant professor of history at Queensborough Community College, delves into this history in his book Levittown's Shadow: Poverty in America's Wealthiest Suburb. He documents the influence of federal spending in the 1940s, the questionable building practices of the Levitts, and a host of attempts to alleviate poverty and fight the dominance of single family housing on Long Island.
Further Research
- In Levittown’s Shadow: Poverty in America’s Wealthiest Suburb (Chicago Press)
- Suffolk County Online Records
- Nassau County Land Records Viewer
- “Business Zone Helps Islip Reclaim a Slum.” (NYT)
- A Freedom Budget for All Americans (The Atlantic)
- Audio Footnotes (related episodes):
- Making Long Island
- Cold War Long Island
- Long Island Migrant Labor Camps
No one sheds a tear for the British Loyalists of Long Island, those inhabitants who remained loyal to the crown during the American Revolution. But genealogist Brendon Burns has spent a tremendous amount of effort tracking them down through libraries and archives across the world. The result is his 5-volume series The Loyal and Doubtful: Index to the Acts of British Loyalism in the Greater New York and Long Island Area 1775-1783. It's a meticulous record of people in New York, Staten Island, and on Long Island, acting in support of King George and the efforts to subdue the patriots.
The Loyal and Doubtful is of a piece with Brendon's work as a genealogist at the Daughters of the American Revolution. He helps vet applications for membership, which includes proving that an ancestor demonstrated "unfailing" service to the revolution. This criteria poses a problem on Long Island where swearing an oath of loyalty or other public acts of support could hardly have been avoided.
On this episode, Brendon walks us through the DAR process, the challenges of disproving loyal acts, and what the surviving records can tell us about life on Long Island during the war.
Further Research
- Brendon Burns (APG)
- The Loyal and Doubtful
- The Virginia Genealogist
- Genealogical Research System (DAR)
- Daughters of the American Revolution
- Inhabitants of New York by Thomas B. Wilson (via WorldCat)
- “A List of Persons on Long Island”: Biography, Voluntarism, and Suffolk County’s 1778 Oath of Allegiance by Christopher Minty (LI History Journal)
- Audio Footnotes:
- Episode 45 : Loyalist Richard Floyd
- Episode 137: Lost British Forts of Long Island
Every other year, Preservation Long Island compiles a list of historic places on Long Island that are endangered. Each list is a mix of structures from different periods of time, each with its own history and own preservation challenges yet all worthy of preserving for future generations.
On today's episode, Preservation Long Island's Preservation Director Tara Cubie joins us to discuss the 2023 list. The seven places are: the Stepping Stones Light House (Kings Point), the Coindre Hall Boathouse (Huntington), the Shutt House (Brentwood), Kings Park Psychiatric Center (Kings Park), the Eliphalet Whitman House (Smithtown), the Mill Pond House (Oyster Bay) and the Perkins Electric Generating Plant (Riverhead).
Tara talks about the sites, the groups who nominated them, the struggles that each of them face, and the reasons why you should care about their survival.
Further Research
- Preservation Long Island
- Friends of Caleb Smith Preserve
- Great Neck Historical Society
- Coindre Hall
- Preserve KPPC (Facebook)
- Brentwood’s Endangered Historic Places
- The Perkins Local History Collection
- Audio Footnotes
- Episodes about preservation
There is a Long Island just below the Kansas border with Nebraska, between the Elk and Prairie Dog Creeks. It's apparently the creeks that gave the area its name. When swollen with rain, they cut off the land in between until it appeared to be an island rising from the surrounding plains.
Long Island is also the home town of Carrie Cox and on today's episode she describes what it was like growing up in a small town on the family farm. We discuss the local sites and legends, the value of history in the tourism industry, and the success of the Northern Valley Huskies.
Further Research
- Travel Tales from Long Island, Kansas
- Monument Rocks, Kansas
- Northern Valley Huskies Sports
- Long Island, Kansas Meteorite
- Grasshopper Plague of 1874
Cindy Schwartz grew up on Long Island and followed her love of history into a long career as a social studies teacher at the Wheatley School in Old Westbury. She has since turned to a new type of classroom - reaching a wider audience through radio and podcasting at WCWP, Long Island University. Her podcast Civics is Dead explored the lack of focus on civics education in schools and ways it can be strengthened. Her radio show Rockin History (Mondays and Wednesdays, 11 AM and 11 PM) mixes classic rock music with interesting stories and facts from history.
Further Research
- Civics is Dead podcast
- Rockin History
- Civic Readiness Initiative (New York State Ed)
- The Wheatley School
- “Nathaniel Wyeth – Got a Lot of Bottle” (The Chemical Engineer)
- Audio Footnotes
- Natalie Naylor interview
- Episodes dealing with Suffragists
Your idea of the Hamptons on the East End of Long Island may include images of supersized mansions and extravagant parties but there is an older, richer Hamptons history beneath and beyond that glitzy surface. Irwin Levy and Esperanza León bring that history to life in their podcast, Our Hamptons. Their Hamptons is a decidedly personal place, rooted in their love of the people, the landscape, and the lost landmarks of East Hampton, Southampton and everything in between.
Starting with their first episode in the spring of 2022, Irwin and Esperanza have wandered the map and covered topics ranging from the Bell Estate in Amagansett to auto racing in Bridgehampton to Jungle Pete’s in Springs. With a soft spot for the 1970s and 80s, they bring to life the stories that have almost faded from memory, providing a place for them to live again.
Further Research
- Our Hamptons Podcast
- East Hampton Trails Preservation Society
- The Bonackers Project
- Tim W. Ferguson
- “The House That Ate the Hamptons” (Mother Jones)
Larry Samuel is an author and historian whose latest book looks at the development of Long Island throughout the 20th Century. It was a time of land speculation and rapid growth as real estate developers and their syndicates turned the fields and farms of Nassau and Suffolk Counties into residential neighborhoods. We discuss the role of Robert Moses in abetting this transformation as well as the high (and low) water mark of William Levitt's Levittown that attracted crowds of white homeowners while excluding Blacks in the 1950s.
Throughout the book, Larry tracks the Island's social and economic landscape with photographs, statistics, and contemporary accounts. A complex picture emerges of a place so successfully marketed as an idyllic countryside that it was almost developed out of existence.
Further Research
- Making Long Island: A History of Growth and the American Dream (History Press) by Larry Samuel
- James Trunslow Adams: Dreaming up the American Dream (JSTOR)
- Dividing Lines, Visible and Invisible (Newsday)
- Audio Footnotes from past episodes
- Sandy Brewster-walker, whose father poured cement for "old man Levitt."
- Murray Barbash, Fire Island-based, environmentally friendly home builder
Yes, Edward Lieberman is a former assistant district attorney and mayor of Seacliff but just as importantly, he is a long-time listener of the Long Island History Project. So when he reached out to talk about his own forays into Long Island history, we were all ears.
On today's episode you'll hear about his work conducting historic bus tours around the Island, focusing on the Oyster Bay area but also venturing into Jones Beach and Great Neck.
Further Research
- Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
- Bayville Bridge Rehabilitation
- The Mansion at Glen Cove
- Jones Beach State Park
In 1949 the nine women of the Arthur Murray Girls baseball team took the field against the all-male squad from the Patchogue Athletics. By that year, the Murrays had been together as a semi-pro outfit for some time. Formed out of the sandlots and playgrounds of Queens, they grew under the tutelage of New York Times sportswriter Mike Strauss to become the nucleus of a league that by the late 1940s became the American Girls Baseball Conference.
On today's episode, historian and Suffolk County Community College librarian Fabio Montella presents his research into the Murrays, their game with Patchogue, and their full, storied history. Although based out of Cedarhurst in Nassau County, the women traveled a loop that saw them taking the field against the likes of the Glen Cove Clovers, the Perth Amboy Cardinalettes, and the Stamford Nutmegs. Fabio also introduces us to Gloria Del Percio, the last living member of the Arthur Murray Girls.
The story of 20th century women's baseball has been popularized by the movie A League of Their Own, but women had their own leagues all across the country. The Murray Girls encapsulate that story at the local level, both as a team and as individual women who loved to play the game.
Further Research
- The Arthur Murray Girls circa 1953 (Getty Images)
- "Girls' Nine Next Opponent for A's." (Patchogue Advance)
- "Recognizing an Unsung Women's Baseball Hero" (LI Herald)
- Audio Footnotes
- The Cuban Giants of Long Island
- Satchel Paige in Riverhead
The Gold Coast along Long Island's north shore is most often celebrated as a showcase for the rich and famous in the early 20th Century. A decidedly different aspect of that reputation comes into view when you consider the years leading up to America's entry into World War I. The Morgan Bank, headed by J.P. Morgan, Jr. with his estate in Glen Cove, played a pivotal role in financing and finding supplies for Britain in the early years of the war. Other famous North Shore families, notably former president Theodore Roosevelt of Oyster Bay, pushed for the United States to enter the war.
Richard Welch presents this story in his book Long Island's Gold Coast Elite and World War I (History Press). He details the world of the Gold Coast and its prominent families, along with their important industry connections and political leanings. From financial dealings to political activism, large scale rallies, and even pushing their own children to serve, these families helped bring America into the war.
Further Research
- Long Island's Gold Coast Elite and World War I (find in a library via WorldCat)
- The Road Less Traveled: The Secret Battle to End the Great War, 1916-1917. (Find in a Library via Worldcat)
- "The Harvard Professor Who Shot a Financial Titan and Fomented Anti-German Sentiment in a Pre-WWI America." (Smithsonian Magazine)
- The Preparedness Movement
- Long Island Forum 1950-2004 (Internet Archive)
Today we team up with Stephanie Eberhard-Holgerson's journalism class at Bayport Blue Point (BBP) High School to try to solve a mystery. At the suggestion of BBP's librarian Pam Gustafson, the class has spent the last year looking into the school's mascot, The Phantoms. The takeaway is that the straightforward question "where did the name come from" has yielded a very convoluted answer. Digging into the research, the class combed school yearbooks, local newspaper archives, Board of Education minutes, and more. Their investigations took them down many paths, touching upon early aviation history, the foundations of ghost stories, local legends, and rival high school teams. They debunked some myths and found compelling evidence for others. They've also discovered a new appreciation for Long Island history and for the need of documenting school decisions for future generations.
Further Research
- Origin of BBP’s “Phantoms” Name
- Bayport-Blue Point Heritage Association
- Bayport Yearbooks(NY Heritage)
- Section XI Athletics (NYSPHSAA)
- Use of Indigenous Names, Mascots, and Logos (NYS Board of Regents)
- Audio Footnotes
- Episode 168: Bayport History
- Past episodes under Native Americans
We're returning to Revolutionary War era Long Island on this episode. And while the Culper Spy Ring does play a part, we are turning the focus to a woman whose story and connections to the Ring were ignored and misrepresented across time until reconstructed by Claire Bellerjeau. Her book with Tiffany Yecke Brooks, Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution, brought to life the meticulous research Bellerjeau conducted over years to illustrate Liss (Elizabeth), a woman surviving through tumultuous times.
Their latest book (and non-profit organization) is Remember Liss which brings the story to students and educators. Combined with primary sources through the New York State Archives, Remember Liss is a fascinating journey through the late 17th and early 18th centuries on Long Island, New York City, and South Carolina. It uses documents, letters, and similar records to show the struggles of a woman born into slavery in Oyster Bay, her ties to Robert Townsend (Culper Jr), General John Simcoe, Major John Andre, and the lengths she would go to in order to gain her freedom.
Further Research
-
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- Remember Liss - Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution - Consider the Source - “Did an Enslaved Woman Try to Warn the Americans of Benedict Arnold’s Treason?“ - The Battle of Stony Point - Deposition of Richard Palmes (Boston Massacre Historical Society) - Audio Footnotes * Episode 46 : Morton Pennypacker * All Culper Spy Ring-related episodes
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Al Smith was many things during his political career: reform champion after the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, four-time governor of New York State, the first Catholic presidential candidate. But he was always a New York City boy at heart.
On this episode we talk with another New York City native, Dr. Robert A. Slayton. His book, Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith (Free Press 2001), documents Smith's rise from the Lower East Side to the top of the Democratic Party ticket in the "dirtiest presidential election in history." Along the way we learn more about progressive reforms in the early 20th century, the career path of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the influence of the KKK in 1920s America. We also touch on Smith's influence on Long Island history, mostly through his elevation of Robert Moses in state government.
Further Research
- Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith by Robert Slayton (Find in a Library via WorldCat)
- Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (OSHA)
- "The Fourth Ward Boy Who Became Governor" (Chronicling America)
- Mapping the Second Ku Klux Klan, 1915-1940 (VCU Libraries)
- Empire State Building History
- Al Smith at the end of Prohibition (British Pathe, YouTube)
- History of Central Park Zoos (NYC Parks)
From time to time on the podcast we like to explore the histories of other Long Islands, those far from New York. Today we focus on the story of Long Island Mill and the Long Island Mill Village in North Carolina.
We have a number of guests to help us tell the story. Jennifer Marquardt, site manager of Murray’s Mill in Catawba County, has researched the Long Island Mill and its 19th century past. Chuck McShane, writer and economic data consultant, authored A History of Lake Norman, a body of water that factors heavily in the Long Island Mill story.
Most importantly, we include a number of oral histories collected by Richard Eller, professor of history at Catawba Valley Community College, as part of the project Spinning Yarns: The Long Island Cotton Mill Family. Conducted in collaboration with the Historical Association of Catawba County, the project included the voices of Gerald Robinson, Gerald Sigmon, Fletus Poston, Carroll Gilleland, Una Mae Brown, Regis Barnhardt, Gene Fisher, Gail Eades Sigmon, and Sylvia Cannon.
Further Research
- Spinning Yarns: The Long Island Cotton Mill Family
- Hands on History (Catawba County Community College)
- A History of Lake Norman: From Fish Camps to Ferraris
- History Museum of Catawba County
- Historical Association of Catawba County
- Murray’s Hill Historic District
- Under Lake Norman (Davidson College)
On a frigid night in January 1840, the luxury steamboat Lexington burned and sank in the middle of the Long Island Sound with over 140 people on board. What followed were harrowing tales of survival, tragic deaths, and a media sensation that dominated the headlines for months.
Historian and journalist Bill Bleyer compiled all of the details in his book The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington on Long Island Sound, out May 1st from the History Press. Today we unpack the whole history with Bill, from the ship's creation by Cornelius Vanderbilt to its glory days on the Sound, to the various attempts through the years at raising it from the deep. It is an epic story of technological progress, maritime dangers, and Long Island's transportation history.
Further Research
- Bill Bleyer History Lectures (Facebook)
- The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington on Long Island Sound (History Press)
- Suffolk County Historical Society Events
- Lexington - National Underwater and Marine Agency
- Cornelius Vanderbilt's Railroad and Steamship Empire
- Nathaniel Currier
Jet fighters once roamed the skies above Long Island. Grumman, the aviation powerhouse behind such planes as the Hellcat and the Avenger, turned its attention to jets by the end of World War II. And to test those jets, they turned to men like Bruce Tuttle.
Tuttle dreamed of flying from an early age. From his family's farm on the north shore he witnessed Charles Lindbergh passing overhead on the first transatlantic flight. Tuttle became a pilot and a Marine, flying in the Pacific during World War II. After the war he went to work for Grumman, along with many of his fellow veterans, to fly jets.
Today on the podcast we learn more about Tuttle and a very specific test flight he took in an F9F Panther over Long Island Sound on December 10, 1951. It was the day that every test pilot dreads.
With us are Amy Tuttle, Bruce's daughter; Chris Ryon, Port Jefferson Historian, Bob Laravie, and John Hiz, Belle Terre historian. We discuss life as a test pilot, the importance of Grumman in Long Island history, and what to do when your jet flames out at 33,000 feet.
Further Research
- Bruce Tuttle (from TBR News Media)
- Port Jefferson Village History
- Leroy Grumman (Cradle of Aviation Museum)
- Birth of the American Jet Age
Today we welcome back former Newsday reporter Bill Bleyer. Bill is an author and historian with a number of Long Island-related history books to his credit and today we dive into his work on the Culper Spy Ring.
Published in 2021, George Washington's Long Island Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide is an analysis of the Culper Spy Ring. In it, Bleyer synthesizes what is known and has been written about the Ring. He incorporates and evaluates primary sources such as the 194 extant letters regarding the spy ring as well as the works of Morton Pennypacker, Alexander Rose, Brian Kilmeade and others to tease out fact from fiction from downright fabrication. The book also includes a comprehensive guide to sites on Long Island related to the Culper Spy Ring story.
Further Research
-
Bill Bleyer History Lectures (Facebook)
- George Washington's Long Island Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide
-
Raynham Hall Museum
-
Three Village Historical Society
-
George Washington Letters (SBU Special Collections & Archives)
-
Drowned Meadow Cottage Museum (Instagram)
-
Tri-Spy Tours
-
Audio Footnotes
- Past Culper Spy and Revolutionary War episodes
- 2017 Bill Bleyer interview
A tree-lined street running gently down to a flat blue bay, flanked by over two hundred years worth of American architecture. Bellport in all its glory, from its founding by the Bell brothers through its growth as a waterfront resort destination and the ensuing years as a sleepy, forgotten village. But there came a time when the old place needed saving - when all the Greek Revivals and Victorians could have been razed or replaced with McMansions.
Victor Principe's new book, Unhampton Preservation and the Happiness of Place in Bellport Village and Environs, documents the history of preservation in the area. On this episode, he discusses the importance of preserving a sense of place in an area, protecting streetscapes and historic districts as well as conserving the natural landscape. We also talk about the careful balance of forces needed to make historic preservation work, from dedicated individuals to willing political leaders to a commitment over time to following the plans and specific codes hammered out at the local level.
Further Research
- Unhampton Preservation and the Happiness of Place in Bellport Village and Environs (order here)
- Bellport Village and Brookhaven Hamlet (Find in a library via WorldCat)
- Bellport Revisited (Find in a library via WorldCat)
- Bellport Brookhaven Historical Society
- William Glackens (Smithsonian American Art Museum)
Bayport and its immediate vicinity in Islip on the south shore of Long Island have some deep ties to history. There's the Bayport Aerodrome with its vintage airplanes, the Meadowcroft estate of John Ellis Roosevelt, and the roadside sphinx of the Anchorage Inn from the early 1900s. But what would all this mean to a teenager in the early 1980s? Today we find out with Bayport native Rob Walch who grew up in the area during the age of video games and the Islanders dynasty.
It's local history through one man's life, from a part-time job at Satelite Pizza to a position on the high school rifle team to clandestine forays into the Girl Scout camp next door.
Further Research
- Bayport Aerodrome Society
- Camp Edey
- Meadowcroft
- Satelite Pizza
- A Brief History of the Hardy Boys
- Audio Footnotes:
- The Sphinx: Episode 9
- Bayport Aerodrome: Episode 94
- La Salle Military Academy: Episode 41
If you lived in Brentwood in the late 1960s and 70s, you may have encountered a charming, transplanted Englishman named Raymond Buckland. You many not have realized it at the time, but Buckland was in the process of establishing Wicca as a religion in America. A private practitioner at first, introduced to Wicca by Gerald Gardner, Buckland was soon thrust into the public eye by the press. He then helped popularize Gardnerian Wicca through television appearances, newspaper interviews, and his own numerous writings on the subject. He went on to found his own museum and his own tradition of Seax Wicca.
On today's episode, we talk with Peter Ward (Brentwood Public Library) and Ellen Edelstein (Brentwood Historical Society) about Buckland's time in Brentwood, his connections to the library, and his position in the area's long history of the colorful and spiritually-minded.
Further Research
- Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick
- Brentwood Public Library: Local History
- Brentwood Historical Society
- Raymond Buckland on the Dick Cavett Show (1971)
- Video Gallery (Buckland Museum)
- Articles
- Raymond Buckland obituary (The Wild Hunt)
- An Interview with Raymond Buckland (Llewellyn 2003)
- "At a Witchcraft Museum, Halloween is more than Trick or Treat." (NYT, 10/31/1971)
- Books by Raymond Buckland (Open Library)
Much has been written about September 21, 1938, the day that a massive hurricane hit Long Island. For Jonathan C. Bergman, the more interesting story began the day after. His extensive research focused on the cleanup and disaster relief efforts orchestrated by a shifting network of Red Cross officials, New Deal workers, Suffolk County agencies, churchgoers, and volunteers.
On today's episode, Bergman takes us through those efforts and the impact the hurricane had on South Shore communities like Southampton and the North Fork fishing industry at Montauk. We also discuss the scope of disaster relief in the United States, from the early days of the Republic up through the emergence of FEMA in the latter 20th century.
Further Research
- Bergman, Jonathan C. 2008. “The Shape of Disaster and the Universe of Relief: A Social History of Disaster Relief and the ‘Hurricane of '38 " Suffolk County Long Island New York 1938-41.” Dissertation. State University of New York at Buffalo.
- email: jcbesq@yahoo.com
- "The Hurricane of '38" (The American Experience)
- The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 (National Weather Service)
- "The '38 Hurricane" (American Heritage)
- Hurricanes and Society in the British Greater Caribbean, 1624-1783 by Matthew Mulcahy (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Audio Footnotes:
- Episode 54: first person accounts of the Hurricane of 38
Two Black men were shot and killed by a police officer in Freeport on a cold winter morning in 1946. Another was wounded. All three were brothers, two were World War II veterans dressed in their military uniforms. The ensuing outcry and investigations would spread far beyond the south shore of Long Island and bring the story of racial tensions on Long Island to the national level.
Christopher Verga returns on this episode to discuss that night, the Ferguson brothers, and the conditions on Long Island that led up to the deadly confrontation. His latest book, The Ferguson Brothers Lynching on Long Island, details not only a particular family's tragedy but the deeper history of racism on Long Island including the prominence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s.
Further Research
- The Ferguson Brothers Lynchings on Long Island
- Orson Welles Commentaries (July 28, 1946)
- Long Island Divided (Newsday)
- Freedom's Ladder: WNYC and New York's Anti-Discrimination Law (WNYC)
- Cover of Woody Guthrie's The Ferguson Brothers' Killing (Raymond Crooke)
- Audio Footnotes: Christopher Verga episodes
- Cold War Long Island
- A Personal History of PTSD
- Agent Orange on Long Island
- Joe Giannini and the Vietnam War
- Jack Parente and the Vietnam War
Robert Moses is the man most New Yorkers love to hate. This is in no small part due to his own hubris and the impact he had on the people living in the path of his massive construction projects. Add to that Robert Caro's hard hitting 1974 biography The Power Broker and you've got a reputation that is hard to live down.
Kara Schlichting and Katie Uva, both teachers and urban historians, have been contending with Moses in their works and in their classrooms. On today's episode they discuss the challenges of teaching Moses and of broadening our understanding of the man and the times in which he operated. We also discuss the undeniable impact of The Power Broker and how historians work to bring context and understanding to this very important figure in New York history.
We also discuss the crucial early years of Robert Moses relating to Long Island and the creation of wildly popular parks and beaches. Did he work to exclude minorities from Jones Beach? Was there anyone to stop him running roughshod across Nassau and Suffolk Counties? The answers in the historical record may not be as simple as you expect.
Further Research
- Katie Uva
- Kara Schlichting
- "Teach NY: Three Case Studies for Reassessing New York’s Power Broker." New York History 103.1 Summer 2022.
- "Robert Moses and His Racist Parkway, Explained"
- Books mentioned on this episode (via WorldCat)
- Audio Footnotes
- Episode 26: The Barbash family leads the fight on Fire Island
- Episode 25: Journalist Karl Grossman covering Robert Moses
Today we dive back into a discussion of the Culper Spy Ring, turning our attention to the area of Port Jefferson or, more appropriately, it's original incarnation of Drowned Meadow. The village of Port Jefferson is opening the Drowned Meadow Cottage Museum inside the 18th century home of Culper ring member Phillips Roe.
Mark Sternberg, the museum's Culper Spy Ring Historian, walks us through the focus of the museum, the background of Roe, and the deeper context of the Culper Spy ring in the Setauket area. For instance, Mark's recent article in New York State Archives magazine lays out documentary evidence on the activities of Selah Strong in regards to the Revolution and spying. You'll also hear about Mount Misery, Old Man's, petticoats, and the late, lamented AMC series Turn: Washington's Spies.
Further Research
- Drowned Meadow Cottage Museum on Instagram
- "Records Reveal an Overlooked Hero of the Culper Spy Ring" (NYS Archives magazine)
- Books mentioned on this episode (via WorldCat)
- Founders Online (National Archives)
- Spy Letters of the American Revolution (Clements Library)
- George Washington and the Culper Spy Ring (Stony Brook University Libraries)
- "Mary Silliman's War: A Convincing Social Portrait"
- Audio Footnotes
- Past podcast episodes on the Culper Spy Ring
Long Island's barrier beaches are fascinating places. Stretched along the south shore of the island, they persist through much of Long Island history as wild natural landscapes constantly shifting and remolded by the Atlantic Ocean. And despite the storms and shipwrecks and isolation, people have persisted in thinking "I want to live there."
On today's episode we talk to Mike Cavanaugh, whose curiosity brought him to Gilgo Beach over twenty years ago. Through deeper research he has tracked the history of his cottage and the Gilgo Beach community back to the 19th century. You'll hear about eccentric hermits, the lost colony of Hemlock Beach, and the complicated legacy of Robert Moses. You'll also hear about Mike's other passion, collecting old bottles from the Great South Bay that tell stories about the people who lived here before.
Further Research
- Bay Bottles
- Society for Historical Archaeology
- East Rockaway Public Library
- Brooklyn Newsstand
- NYS Historic Newspapers
The Hempstead Plains were once a defining feature of Long Island. Covering some 40,000 acres, the Plains stretched from the Queens border in the west to the Suffolk border in the east, creating a sea of waist-high grass in the middle of what is now Nassau County. Remnants of the Plains still remain, most notably in a 17-acre segment on the campus of Nassau Community College preserved by the Friends of Hempstead Plains.
Betsy Gulotta standing before the last remnants of the Hempstead Plains on the campus of Nassau Community College. On today’s episode, Betsy Gulotta, former conservation project manager of the Friends, takes us on a walking tour, pointing out the grasses, trees, and endangered species that have continued to thrive for centuries. She relates the history of the Friends and their conservation efforts, as well as some of the storied history of the Plains. That history includes the earliest horseracing in the state, numerous staging areas for soldiers like Camp Black during the Spanish American War, and sites like Mitchel Field that helped make the area the Cradle of Aviation.
Further Research
- Friends of Hempstead Plains
- The History of Mitchel Field
- Sandplain Gerardia
- Neidich-Ryder, C., Kennelly, P. Mapping prairie remnants on the Hempstead Plains, Long Island, New York. Environ Monit Assess 186, 3011–3022 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3597-1
- Watson W. C. (1860). The plains of long island. Printed by C. Van Benthuysen. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.31824.
We continue our exploration of Long Islands other than our own. This episode takes us inland from the East Coast to the banks of the Whitewater River in western Ohio.
Sharon Pope Lutz tells us the story of Long Island Beach and how the Pope family turned their property from idyllic piece of farmland to a 1920s roadside attraction featuring swimming, bingo, a dance hall, and home-made amusement park rides.
Today she and her family keep the flame alive, operating Green Acres Kayak from the same spot.
Further Research:
- Green Acres Kayak
- Whitewater River Foundation
- Little Egypt
- Fort Finney
- Principal Meridian
- Rosemary Clooney on Spotify
- Southwest Ohio Amusement Park Historical Society
Thomas M. Stark served as a judge in Suffolk County and New York State starting in the early 1960s. During his career he presided over a number of important cases but the one that loomed largest was the murder of the DeFeo family at their home in Amityville by their son Ronald in 1974. Stark’s daughter Ellen remembers hearing about the case over dinner while the rest of the world remembers it as the Amityville Horror case.
On this episode, Ellen talks to us about her father’s book, Horrific Homicides, in which he describes the DeFeo case along with a number of other notable trials from his career. A noted jurist and student of the law, Stark kept careful notes on his trials and details not only the crimes themselves but the legal issues involved.
The result is a glimpse at the darker side of Long Island history from behind the judge’s bench.
Further Research
- Horrific Homicides by Thomas M. Stark
- Thomas M. Stark obituary (Suffolk Times)
- “The Wild Party that Scandalized the Hamptons.” (Daily Beast)
Glenn Durlacher looks back over his family’s legacy of square dance calling on Long Island with deserved pride. His grandfather Ed pioneered square dancing in the New York City area starting in the 1930s. At the urging of his friends in the Top Hands band, Ed made a name for himself calling dances and traveling to promote the use of his records and square dancing to phys ed teachers across the country.
This led to an association with Robert Moses and gigs calling at the 1939 World's Fair as well as in Central Park. But it was at the Jones Beach Bandshell that he made his greatest impression. First Ed, then his son Don, and then family friend Primo Fiore hosted weekly square dances every summer at the beach for over sixty years.
On today’s episode, Glenn relates the history of square dancing in his family and what he remembers of being at so many of those Jones Beach nights. We also discuss Glenn’s hopes for a more permanent commemoration of the importance of square dancing at Jones Beach.
If you or your family remember dancing at Jones Beach and would like to support the creation of a plaque to its memory, you can write to:
New York State Parks Regional Headquarters
West Babylon, NY 11704
Further Research
- Square Dancing History Project
- Central Park Newsreel
- Honor Your Partner (YouTube)
- Dix-Hills Melville Historical Association
- Ben & Jerry’s – About
- Audio Footnotes:
- The Life Story of Primo Fiore
They were women and they fought for the right to vote. Beyond that, every person documented in the Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States has a different story to tell.
Dr. Thomas Dublin and a crowdsourced team of volunteers have worked diligently to collect those stories. The Dictionary, a free online resource, is a searchable database of biographical sketches telling the life story of three groups of women:
- Black women suffragists - many of whom migrated out of the South to find more opportunities yet were not always embraced by the wider suffrage movement.
- Members of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) - the mainstream organization of the movement with thousands of members working across every state.
- Members of the National Womans Party (NWP) - formed by women impatient with the strategies and pace of change under NAWSA.
Dr. Dublin describes what it took to pull this database of materials together. A network of volunteers including historians, librarians, genealogists, and students combed through local newspapers, public records, and various primary and secondary sources. What emerged was a series of biographies that document the many faces of women in the movement in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Further Research
- Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States
- Find a Grave
- Chronicling America
- NYS Historic Newspapers
- African American Women in the Struggle for the Vote, 1850-1920. Bloomington: by by Rosalyn Terborg-Penn (Find in a Library via WorldCat)
- The History of Woman Suffrage (vol 6)
In 2020 we marked the centennial of woman suffrage and the passing of the 19th amendment. Although the intervening 102 years can make that struggle feel like the distant past, the story of the many people who fought and marched and pushed for the right to vote is very much alive. Marguerite Kearns keeps one such story before our eyes in her book An Unfinished Revolution (SUNY Press). The book presents the life of her grandparents, Edna Buckman and Wilmer Kearns, and their extended world of Pennsylvania relatives, fellow Quakers, and suffrage activists. Living in Rockville Center in 1905, Edna and Wilmer were in the thick of grassroots organizing on Long Island and New York City. The stories that Marguerite heard from her mother and grandfather, along with her own extensive research, form a picture of loving, dedicated, real people making the best of their lives and making history.
On today's episode, Marguerite shares how she learned that story and how she wove it into a book rich with photographs and the words of Edna and Wilmer.
Further Research
- An Unfinished Revolution (SUNY Press) by Marguerite Kearns
- Bearing Witness: A Family Legacy
- [Spirit of 1776] Wagon (NYS Museum)
- Long Island and the Woman Suffrage Movement
- Dr. "General" Rosalie Jones (National Park Service)
- Women’s Suffrage: Pictures of Suffragists and their Activities (Library of Congress)
- Image credit: Edna Kearns (circa 1915). Image courtesy of Marguerite Kearns used under a CC BY -SA 3.0 license.
Brad Kolodny returns to the podcast to update us on what he's been doing during the intervening thirty episodes. Turns out he's got a new book and a new historical society.
The Jews of Long Island (SUNY Press) is out now and in it, Brad documents the personal and communal stories of Jews on Long Island from the l8th through the early 20th centuries, uncovering a cast of thousands from itinerant peddlers to early baseball players to vacationing vaudevillians.
Further Research:
- The Jews of Long Island
- Upcoming events
- Jewish Historical Society of Long Island
- Audio Footnotes:
- The Synagogues of Long Island
- The Jewish Community on Long Island
- The Soldier City of Suffolk County
Journalist Karl Grossman and historian Christopher Verga have teamed up for the new book Cold War Long Island, out now from the History Press. In it, they detail the productive and tumultuous post-World War II years on Long Island. With an influx of returning GIs and an increase of military spending to counteract the growing strength of the Soviet Union and other communist countries, Nassau and Suffolk Counties saw rapid growth. Aviation companies like Republic and Grumman became household names and a housing boom, epitomized by suburban communities like Levittown, brought many people to the area.
Grossman and Verga also highlight the challenges that came with the prosperity. Neighborhoods like Levittown denied homes to Black veterans. Widespread anxiety led to a rise in prescription drug abuse. Nuclear missiles were stationed across the Island and the everyday use of nuclear power was promoted by the government with little or no acklnowledgement of its dangers. And that's not even mentioning Plum Island.
Join us for this wide-ranging discussion on the 1950s, 60s, and 70s as we take in everything from Nazi scientists to the United Nations, space tourism, and the Rolling Stones.
Further Research
- Cold War Long Island (History Press)
- Books by Karl Grossman
- Power Crazy (1986)
- Cover Up: What You Are Not Supposed to Know About Nuclear Power (1982)
- Books by Christopher Verga
- World War II Long Island (2021)
- Civil Rights on Long Island (2016)
- Avoiding Nuclear Destruction by the Skin of Our Teeth (WHTV)
- Welcome to Shirley: A Memoir from an Atomic Town (2008) by Kelly McMasters
- Lab 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Plum Island Laboratory (2004) by Michael C. Carroll
- Brookhaven National Lab
- "America's Long Love Affair with Anti-Anxiety Drugs" (Newsweek)
- "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel (official video)
- Audio footnotes:
- Episode 50 with Sandi-Brewster walker whose father poured cement for Levittown
- Episode 27 with Karl Grossman on Long Island's nuclear power industry
- Episode 145 with Christopher Verga on Victor Yannacone
We continue our focus on the Southold Indian Museum by talking with their current president, Lucinda Hemmick. A science research teacher from Longwood High School, Lucinda found her way to the museum through the research interests of her students. What followed was a ten-year exploration of Clovis arrow points, steatite pots, and the use of science to unravel the secrets of archaeological artifacts.
Rare "face pot" found at Three Mile Harbor. (Photo courtesy of Southold Indian Museum.) Lucinda also walks us through the history of the museum, with its origins in a group of archaeologically-minded North Fork men in the 1920s. Their efforts and connections to professional archaeologists led to the opening of the museum in the 1960s.
UPDATE 12/13/21 - the Southold Indian Museum is closed through December 2021. Check their website for the most recent info on scheduling.
Further Research
- Southold Indian Museum
- Lucinda Hemmick (ResearchGate)
- In Memory of Ralph Solecki
- Student Partnerships for Advanced Research and Knowledge (SPARK)
- New York State Archaeological Association
- Nicotina rustica (USDA)
- Audio footnote:
- other episodes focused on archaeology
Welcome to part 1 of a 2-part episode focusing on the Southold Indian Museum. Today we speak with Jay Levenson, incoming executive director of the museum. Jay discusses his Native American heritage, how he moved to Long Island and discovered the museum, and his time learning about its resources. He also talks about the history of Native Americans on Long Island and the importance of having an institution that helps them tell their story.
Birdstone atlatl weight from the museum’s collections. Photo by Ephraim Horowitz. Further Research
- Southold Indian Museum
- “A Burial Site is Returned to the Shinnecock” (East Hampton Star)
- Fort Corchaug (On This Site)
- Algonquian Language Revitalization Project (SBU)
- Traditional Tobacco (Keep it Sacred)
Welcome to our 150th episode! Connie Currie is back to bring us the story of the Telefunken site in West Sayville and how she and a dedicated band of radio enthusiasts tried to save it back in the mid-90s, how they failed, and how out of the ashes the Long Island Radio & Television Historical Society (LIRTVHS) was formed.
You'll also hear from filmmaker Joe Sikorski on his new documentary, Invisible Threads: From Wireless to War. LIRTVHS has been working with Joe to bring the Telefunken story to the big screen and that day has arrived. This Friday, November 12th, you can attend a sneak preview at Lessing's Bourne Mansion in Oakdale. (Tickets available online only here).
It's a story of technological innovation, of espionage, local, national, and international politics, and more. It features Marconi, Tesla, Armstrong, the Secret Service, Suffolk County News editor Francis Hoag, and a cast of thousands. Plus - it's all narrated by the great Tony Todd.
This episode is a cross-over with The Radio Tower #36, the official podcast of LIRTVHS.
We hope to see you on the 12th!
Some may be shocked to find that there are many Long Islands out there, each with its own fascinating history. We've taken up the challenge of finding those who are passionate about their own Long Island and bringing them here. We're starting in Casco Bay, Maine, speaking with Karen Rea, president of the Long Island Historical Society. Rea has family ties to the island going back into pre-Revolutionary times.
We explore these connections as well as her own memories of idyllic summers on the island. We also discuss the changing fortunes of the area from the early hardscrabble days to the tourist boom to WWII, secession from Portland, and beyond. All of this preserved by the members of the Long Island Historical Society.
Further Research
- Long Island Historical Society
- Long Island Ferry Schedule - Casco Bay Lines
- Town of Long Island, Maine
- About the Wabanaki Nations (Abbe Museum)
In her first book, The Lost Boys of Montauk, journalist Amanda Fairbanks documents the story of the Wind Blown and the four men who lost their lives aboard it in 1984. Piecing the story together over years of interviews and research, she unraveled a history of close-knit communities, from the working class east end to the wealthy upper east side. She also found a complicated tale of relationships and personalities that still absorbs people in the community to this day.
Further Research
- The Lost Boys of Montauk (Find in a library via WorldCat)
- Amanda Fairbanks
- Montauk Historical Society
- East Hampton Star
- Golden Tilefish
- Audio Footnote:
- Episode 28: Stories of Storm and Sea
Frank Romeo graduated from Bay Shore High School and enlisted in the US Army during the height of the Vietnam War. Despite fighting in the Tet Offensive and participating in secret missions in Cambodia, he maintains that his problems really started when he returned home.
Christopher Verga joins us again as we sit down with Frank Romeo to talk about his experiences and struggles with PTSD in the years following the war. Frank found an outlet in art, turning his emotions into striking images. More recently, he walked the length of New York State, staying in homeless shelters and sharing stories with those he encountered along the way. The result is the new documentary Walk with Frank.
This episode is an honest and wide-ranging discussion about war, mental health, and the healing power of speaking aloud what is often kept silent.
With thanks to the Sayville Public Library where this episode was recorded.
Related Research
- Walk with Frank
- The Soldier’s Story
- PTSD History and Overview
- Veterans Resources
- Joseph P Dwyer Veterans Peer Support Project
- Long Island Cares Veterans Project
- Wounded Warrior Project
- Mental Health Association of Nassau County Veterans Services
- Historical Resources
- Secret War in Laos
- Plain of Jars (UNESCO)
- War Remnants Museum (Ho Chi Minh City)
- Audio Footnotes
- Agent Orange on Long Island
- Joe Giannini and the Vietnam War
- Jack Parente and the Vietnam War
If you were a corrupt or incompetent official in 19th century New York City, Philip Merkle was your worst nightmare: an idealistic German immigrant with subpoena power. As city coroner from 1881-1885, he investigated murders, suicides, and gruesome accidents, seeking to right every wrong and improve every aspect of the system he encountered. He was also a champion for social order and progress, founding aid organizations dedicated to advancing his fellow immigrants. Implacable foe of Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed, friend to Teddy Roosevelt and Jacob Riis, Merkle's story is ripe for dramatization and greater renown.
We are talking today with Suffolk County Community College librarian Bruce Seger, the man who is shining a light on Merkle and compelling us to take an episode away from Long Island to investigate. Bruce's new book, Matters of Life and Death: The Remarkable Journey of Dr. Philip Merkle, is a fictionalized retelling of the five years of research Bruce put into uncovering this eventful life. Merkle is a distant relative along the Seger family tree and once he started looking, Bruce couldn't believe what he found.
Further Research
- Matters of Life and Death: The Remarkable Journey of Dr. Philip Merkle
- Bruce Seger
- New York City Research
- NYS Historic Newspapers database
- Brooklyn Daily Eagle
- New York Municipal Archives collections
- Related New York City-themed shows
- The Knick
- The Alienist
- Copper
- Jacob Riis: Revealing "How the Other Half Lives" exhibition from the Library of Congress
- Dan Sickles Trial: 1859
- Freinsheim, Germany
We finish out your special three-part series on Long Island's Vietnam veterans by looking at a second battle they faced in the years after the war: the effects of Agent Orange. By the late 1970s the effects of this chemical defoliant were becoming known and veterans began to mobilize.
In Stamford, Connecticut former helicopter door gunner Paul Reuterschan, himself dying of cancer, teamed up with fellow vets Jimmy Sparrow and Frank McCarthy to form Agent Orange Victims International (now the HonorBound foundation). Paul's media advocacy and the group's persistence brought the matter to the public. And to Victor Yannacone.
From his home/law office in Patchogue, Victor had built a name for himself by litigating against the use of DDT in New York State. In the process, he defined the field of environmental law. But in 1979, another David and Goliath fight against the establishment was the last thing on his mind.
Join us and Christopher Verga as we tell the story of how this seminal trial came to be on Long Island, using Christopher's oral history interviews with Victor and Jimmy.
Christopher is continuing his oral history project and you can reach him at ChrisV1081[at]hotmail.com to participate.
You can catch up on our two past episodes below.
thank you to all Vietnam veterans (and their families) on Long Island for their service and sacrifices.
Further Research
- Victor Yannacone and the Agent Orange Litigation
- HonorBound Foundation
- 'We were all out of our minds' - When Stamford vets waged a battle against Agent Orange
- Environmental Defense Fund: Our Story
- Agent Orange Exposure and VA Disability Compensation
- MT Vulcanus
- Audio Footnotes
- Episode 144: Joe Giannini
- Episode 143: Jack Parente
We continue our conversation with Long Island historian Christopher Verga, discussing his oral history interviews with Vietnam veterans from Long Island.
Today we feature excerpts from Chris's interview with Joe Giannini. Joe was born in Brooklyn, moved to Massapequa and graduated from Hofstra University in 1966. Drafted soon after, he enlisted in the Marines, serving (and surfing) in country. Through his oral history, Joe describes the racial tensions he encoutnered during training at Camp Geiger, his exposure to Agent Orange, and what he experienced on his return to the States.
Christopher Verga is seeking to document the histories of more Long Island Vietnam vets. Listen for ways you can get in touch with him and share your story - or recommend someone to interview.
Further Research
- Gung Ho (LTV East Hampton)
- Soft Targets by Joe Giannini (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Camp Geiger
- History of Parris Island
- China Beach: Surfers, the Vietnam War, and the Healing Power of Wave-riding
- Audio Footnote:
- Jack Parente and the Vietnam War
Born and raised in Oyster Bay, Jack Parente found himself drafted into the Army in 1967 and served in Vietnam from 1968-1970 as a member of a reconnaissance unit of the 1st Calvary Division. Today we hear his story courtesy of Christopher Verga, a Long Island historian who has been interviewing the area's veterans in order to document and preserve a generation of soldiers neglected in their own time.
This is the first in a series of episodes on the podcast. Working with Chris, we'll be bringing you further interviews and voices from Long Islanders involved with the war.
Further Research
- Vietnam: A Television History
- The Pentagon Papers
- Vietnam-era Anti-War Protests
- Vietnam Veterans of America
- Concerned Long Island Mountain Bicyclists
Elizabeth Letts has a knack for finding good stories and evoking a time and place. In her New York Times bestselling book The Eighty-Dollar Champion, she uncovers the secluded equestrian world of Long Island's North Shore in the 1950s. It's the story of a Dutch immigrant in St. James with a uniquely talented horse and their attempt to rise to the top of a sport reserved for the wealthy and well connected.
On today's episode, Elizabeth discusses how she discovered the story of Harry DeLeyer and Snowball, her insights into writing nonfiction, and her own connections to Long Island. You'll also hear about her new novel, The Ride of Her Life, which follows another journey involvling a woman, a horse, and the hidden landscapes of pre-Interstate America.
Further Research
- Elizabeth Letts
- The Eighty-Dollar Champion
- The Ride of Her Life
- Snowman (Horse Stars Hall of Fame)
- National Horse Show
- The Lost "New" Madison Square Garden (Daytonian in Manhattan)
Imagine you were a woman born at the height of the Gilded Age with a passion, not for fashion or society, but for sports. And you grew up riding bareback and driving massive horse-drawn carriages through the narrow streets of Chinatown. Your family's wealth meant you could also sail on the Lusitania and visit Paris every year while you also played on men's polo teams, marched with suffragists, dabbled in race cars, and pursued the women's amateur golf championship. If you can imagine all that (and throw in a reputation for hosting great parties with the Hollywood elite of the 1920s) then you can picture the life of Marion Hollins.
We're joined today by Emily Chorba, Rhonda Mohr, and Chris Vaccaro to present the life of East Islip-born golf champion Marion Hollins and celebrate her entry into the 2022 class of the World Golf Hall of Fame. You'll also hear about the Marion Hollins Memorial Project and how you can help fund a fitting monument for her gravesite in Monterey, California.
Furhter Research
- Marion Hollins Memorial Project
- Outerbridge, David E. Champion in a Man's World: The Biography of Marion Hollins. Chelsea, Mich: Sleeping Bear, 1999. (Find in a library via WorldCat)
- Pasatiempo (live feed)
- California Women's Amateur Championships
- Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame
- 1920s newsreels of Marion. Fox Movietone News Collection (University of South Carolina Libraries)
- Marion Hollins: Queen of the Road from The Carriage Journal, May 2021 by Jerry Trapani.
- World Golf Hall of Fame Class of 2022
- Loon Hill Studios (vintage photos)
- East Islip Historical Society
- Music: Oh! By Jingo! by the All Star Trio
Primo Fiore was born in Brooklyn but raised his family in Deer Park while working as a physical education instructor in West Islip. His gifted speaking voice, combined with a curriculum involving lessons in square dancing, led him on a path to a prolific side career that took him all over the Island. He wound up calling square dances at campgrounds, churches, and school halls and, most notably, at the Bandshell at Jones Beach for decades.
Primo's son Mario reached out to the podcast and the result is this deep dive into Primo's life, including his days as a drill sergeant and his assoication with Dan Durlacher, noted caller and son of New York square dancing legend Ed Durlacher. Mario also helps us understand the place that square dancing held in gym class, the art and science of square dance calling, and the state of Jones Beach in the 1970s.
Further Research
- Square Dance History Project
- New York State Parks
- Restoring the Grandeur of Jones Beach
Thornhill's Pharmacy has overlooked the center of Sayville from the corner of Main Street and Gillette Avenue for over a century. This is actually the second location of Sewell Thornhill's establishment, opened in 1918. When architect Matthew La Piana and his wife were looking for an old building to restore and occupy, something about this thin slice of wood and stucco on its odd corner lot caught their eye.
On today's episode, recorded over Zoom, Matthew describes the restoration journey - the discoveries in the attic, the problems under the many layers of flooring, and the decisions he made while bringing the building back to life. That includes the iconic neon sign that La Piana restored to its former glory.
Further Research
- Matthew La Piana
- The Dig with Elle McLogan
- The Buffalo History Museum Podcast
- Audio Footnote
- Episode 49 on Sayville architect Isaac Green
Mark Torres has uncovered a little-discussed chapter of Long Island history, the conditions under which many migrant farm workers labored on area farms from World War II into the early 1970s.
His new book from the History Press details the social, economic, and historical factors that led to Long Island’s migrant labor camps being the focus of much attention in their day. These camps, created out of everything from old mansions to chicken coops, housed migrant workers from the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, and the South while operating under a system that often exploited and endangered the workers and their families.
Further Research
- Long Island Migrant Labor Camps: Dust for Blood (History Press)
- Mark Torres
- What Harvest for the Reaper? (American Archive of Public Broadcasting)
- Cutchogue migrant housing from Harvest of Shame (1960)
Since moving to New York from his native Canada, David Griffin has made it his mission to find and document the Revolutionary War-era forts that the British used to help control the length and breadth of the Island. Using primary sources including maps and letters , as well as his knowledge of architecture and British fortification techniques, he has uncovered many locations that are virtually undetectable in today’s modern landscape.
Further Research
- Lost British Forts of Long Island
- David Griffin Author Page – Journal of the American Revolution
- The Geometry of War: Fortification Plans from 18th-Century America
- The Lamar Institute Report – The Struggle for Long Island : Expanding Revolutionary War Studies in New York.
- Audio Footnotes
- Episode 71: Washington’s Spy Letters
- Episode 48: Richard Floyd, Long Island Loyalist
- Episode 10: The Truth Behind the Spies: Decoding AMC’s Turn
Joysetta Pearse, director of the African American Museum of Nassau County, joins us to discuss the mission and operations of the museum. She shares a number of inspiring stories, many on display at the musuem, from the outstanding Jennings family of 19th century New York to pre-teen millionaire Sarah Rector to the children of Birmingham who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Further Research
- African American Museum of Nassau County
- Jennings vs. Third Ave. Railroad incident
- Mighty Times: The Children’s March
- Sarah Rector
A wall of ice dominated the landscape of Long Island thousands of years ago. During the Pleistocene Epoch, a large mass called the Laurentide ice sheet stretched across most of modern-day Canada and the northern United States. The melting of that glacier marked the birth of the island, with the geography from Brooklyn to Montauk taking shape under intense natural pressure.
Miranda Maliszka and Anthony Johnson, students at Hofstra University, join us today to discuss their research into this time period. Their Digital Elevation Model helped them study the factors effecting the melting of the glaicer and the surrounding area. We also look at the outstanding features that the glacier left behind.
Plus: a bonus Valentine's Day message!
Further Research
- An Approach to Understanding the Landscape Exposure Rate for the Post-Wisconsin Late Stage Glaical Melting on Long Island, New York using a Glacial Withdrawal Simulation by Miranda Maliszka, Anthony Johnson, Denis Darnaud and Antonios Marsellos
- 27th Conference on Geology of Long Island and Metropolitan New York
- Ancient Climate Events: Pleistocene Glaciation
We've got two segments for you today. The first is a conversation recorded online through the Brentwood Public Library during a podcast demonstration last year. Our participants recall some childhood memories of summer attractions on Long Island (so many drive-ins!).
Next, Ithaca College journalism major Antonio Ferme sits down with us to discuss local media, local history, and local journalism. Can these three work together? If so, how?
Further Research
- Brentwood Stories podcast
- Nunley's Carousel
- Antonio Ferme
- WICB Ithaca
- Ithaca Now podcast
It's the early 70s in West Islip and St John the Baptist High School is gearing up for a crucial game against St. Agnes of Rockville Centre. But for freshman Mickey Quinn and the rest of the class of '75, the events of that night will reverberate beyond the court for years to come.
Today Mickey joins us to discuss Growing Up a Cougar, his account of that game, that night, and his years at SJB.
Special thanks to Fabio Montella.
Further Research
- Facebook Group for Growing Up a Cougar
- Spotify playlist for this episode
- St John the Baptist High School
- Good Samaritan Hospital - History
Over the span of a few short months in 1931, 19-year old Francis Crowley was on the minds of everyone from the Bronx to Long Island. Known for always packing an extra pistol and steeped in life on the streets, Crowley conducted a crime spree that culminated in North Merrick with the murder of Nassau County Patrolman Fred Hirsch. On today's episode, Jerry Aylward relates the whole story as detailed in his book, Francis "Two Gun" Crowley's Killings in New York City & Long Island (History Press, 2020).
Aylward, a former Nassau County detective and criminal investigator for the Department of Homeland Security, provides a look at Crowley's life of petty crime: boosting cars, sticking up drugstores, and haunting the dance halls of Depression-era New York. He also details the work of the Nassau County police, founded in 1925, as they confronted the rising violence around them.
Further Research
- Francis "Two Gun" Crowley's Killings in New York City & Long Island
- Jerry Aylward home page
- Patrolman Fred S. Hirsch
- Boy Gunman Caught in New York City (YouTube)
Mary Louise Booth wrote her own story. A single woman from Long Island, she rose to prominence in the world of New York publishing as an acclaimed author, translator, and founding editor of Harper's Bazaar. She was also a friend and champion of many prominent women, from Susan B. Anthony and Louisa May Alcott to Sarah Tuthill and Dr. Marie Zakrzewska.
Tricia Foley, a designer and former magazine editor herself, moved next door to Booth's childhood home in Yaphank and became fascinated with the story. What followed was a decades-long hunt to piece together her legacy through archives and special collections around the country. The result is the comprehensive and beautifully illustrated book, Mary L. Booth: The Story of an Extraordinary 19th-Century Woman.
Further Research
- Tricia Foley
- Mary L. Booth
- History of the City of New York , 1867 ed. (Google Books)
- Harper's Bazaar (Cornell University)
- Louisa May Alcott
- Susan B. Anthony
- The Blackwell Sisters
- Dr. Marie E. Zakrzewska
- Sarah Strong Tuthill
- Sister Poets - Alice and Phoebe Cary
Allison McGovern has been digging history for a long time. Fascinated as a child with ancient Egypt and visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she went on to become a professional archaeologist, uncovering the past in her own backyard.
On today's episode, you'll hear McGovern describe her work at a number of sites on the island, including the Pyrrhus Concer site in Southampton and Freetown in East Hampton. We also talk about what archaeology can and cannot tell us, the importance of Native American and African American settlements, and the need to listen to communities about their ties to the past.
Further Research
- Allison McGovern
- VHB
- Race and Ethnicity in Early America Reflected through Evidence form the Betsey Prince Archaeological Site, Long Island, New York by Allison McGovern (PDF)
- Freetown (Mapping the African American Past)
- Pyrrhus Concer's Legacy Sails Again
- New York State Museum
- Time Team
Robert Ottone is no stranger to the strangeness on Long Island. An Islip native, he has been attuned to the Island’s darker hues from an early age and has worked them into his fiction writing and his podcasting.
Today we discuss his newest book: Her Infernal Name & Other Nightmares. Rob graces us with readings of two of his stories and we dive deeper into the more haunted precincts of the South Shore, including Oakdale and Sayville. We also try to tackle the question: what is scaring kids today?
Further Research
- Robert Ottone
- @RobertOttone (Instagram)
- @RobertOttone (Twitter)
- Spooky House Press
- Interview with Robert Ottone on the Radio Tower podcast
- Voices from Gilgo (podcast)
- A Night of Spooky Fiction with Local Author Robert P. Ottone (Sayville Library)
- Galactic Terrors (YouTube)
- Her Infernal Name & Other Nightmares (Amazon)
- Selected Filmography
- My Amityville Horror (trailer)
- The Conjuring 2 (trailer)
- Jaws (trailer)
- Selected Horror Authors
- Paul Tremblay
- John Langan
- James Chambers
- Linda Addison
- Gwendolyn Kiste
- Music:
- Moonrise (Chad Crouch). CC-BY-NC 3.0
- Bufflehead (Chad Crouch) CC-BY-NC 3.0
- Capering (Blue Dot Sessions) CC-BY-NC 4.0
Anyone attempting to invade Long Island Sound at the turn of the last century would have faced a gantlet of artillery guns mounted in forts across the islands that stretch from Orient Point to the Rhode Island coast. With little actual chance of invasion, the men manning these forts had few diversions to choose from: baseball, drinking, or ruining a man's career.
On today's episode, we speak with Marian E. Lindberg. Her new book, Scandal on Plum Island: A Commander Becomes the Accused, focuses on the court martial of Major Benjamin Koehler. Accused by a number of his men of immoral conduct, Koehler faced trial on the island in 1914. Compared by some contemporaries to the Dreyfus Affair, Koehler's case reveals much about the military's emerging views of homosexuality and the developing norms of masculinity in America.
You'll hear about Marian's research process, her interactions with Koehler's descendants, and her thoughts on preserving Plum Island and Koehler's legacy.
Further Research
- Marian E. Lindberg website
- The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War (Library of Congress)
- Fort Wright, Fishers Island (Henry L. Ferguson Museum)
- When Brooklyn Was Queer by Hugh Ryan
- Save Plum Island
- A World Unto Itself: The Remarkable History of Plum Island (Ruth Ann Bramson, Geoffrey K. Fleming, and Amy Kasuga Folk)
Plum Island is poised between its past and its future. Looking back, it contains evidence of its time as a coastal defense in the Spanish-American War, as well as a 19th-century, National Register-certified lighthouse. Looking ahead, it could become a publicly accessible nature preserve and cultural center, providing a haven for native flora and migrating animals. The pivot point is the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, which has given the Island much if its current identity and whose iminent demise has prompted concern for the Island's fate.
John Tuner, noted naturalist and spokesman for the
Preserve Plum Island Coalition, explains the issues involved and the push to keep the Island from being sold off to the highest bidder. We also discuss his work in the Pine Barrens and his thoughts on Long Island's natural landscape.
Further Research
- Preserve Plum Island Coalition
- Plum Island Animal Disease Center
- Atlantic White Cedar
- Coastal Barrens Buckmoth
- Long Island Pine Barrens Society
- Gardiner's Island: A Visit with Robert David Lion Gardiner (1976)
Bibliography
- Scandal on Plum Island by Marian E. Lindberg
- A World Unto Itself: The Remarkable History of Plum Island, New York by Ruth Ann Bramson, Geoffrey K. Fleming and Amy Kasuga Folk
- Exploring the Other Island by John Turner
Banks Smither oversees the publication of Long Island-related books from the History Press. As Acquisitions Editor, he has built up a catalog of the lost, abandoned, haunted, and forgotten corners of the Island from Montauk to Brooklyn.
On today’s episode he discusses the publication process at the History Press – form pitch to publication to promotion. He also explains what he looks for in a proposal and what he’s learned about Long Island history working with authors such as Keriann Flanagan Brosky and Bill Bleyer.
If you feel you have your own Long Island history story to tell, visit their website and get in touch!
Further Research
- The History Press
- Arcadia Press
- Audio Footnote:
- Bill Bleyer
- Kerriann Flanagan Brosky
A July night at Riverhead Stadium in 1950. Two baseball legends face each other without even realizing it. Satchel Paige, fabled Negro League pitcher, is on the mound for the Philadelphia Stars. Young Carl Yastrzemski Jr. is in the stands, cheering for his dad on the Riverhead Falcons. The sellout crowd in a stadium barely a year old is a testamant to the long history and deep popularity of baseball in the area.
Fabio Montella of Suffolk County Community College recounts the story of that night and of baseball in Riverhead. Riverhead Stadium was just the latest iteration of a long-standing connection to the sport.
Further Research
- Satchel Paige (Baseball Hall of Fame)
- Remembering Riverhead (Facebook Group)
- NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture
- Fabio Montella
- Audio Footnote
- Episode 55: The Cuban Giants of Long Island
Brad Kolodny spent four years documenting every synagogue in Nassau and Suffolk Counties that he could find. The result is his comprehensive coffee table book from Segula Publishing.
On today's episode we discuss Seeking Sanctuary: 125 Years of Synagogues on Long Island. Brad discusses the genesis of the project and the complex history of this region's synagogues: the buildings that still exist, those that no longer exist, and those that are now laundromats. Through it all, Brad's fascination with these synagogues endured and allowed him to bring this book to life.
Further Research
- Seeking Sanctuary website
- Synagogues of Long Island on Instagram
- Percival Goodman architectural records and papers, 1929-1989
- Tuoro Synagogue National Historic Site
- Audio Footnote:
- Episode 35 : Rhoda Miller and the Jewish Community on Long Island
We're rebroadcasting our interview with Lillian, Cathy and Susan Barbash about their family and their fight to stop Robert Moses from driving a road down the middle of Fire Island.
We were saddened to hear of the recent pasing of Lillian and wanted to share this conversation in her memory.
Maryann Almes, president of the Oakdale Historical Society, joins us to discuss the organization's role in preserving and celebrating the history of Oakdale. Located in Islip on the south shore of Long Island, Oakdale has a storied past as a gem of the Gilded Age. For decades in the late 19th century, a string of mansions, most prominently William K. Vanderbilt's Idle Hour, lined the Great South Bay and attracted national attention.
The Society received Preservation Long Island's award for Organizational Excellence, and Maryann details for us just how much work and effort goes into achieving that excellence. The to-do list includes constant advocacy, innovative public events, and a community committed to the place where they live.
Today's episode marks the end of our week-long celebration of the 2020 Preservation Long Island Preservation Awards. We have visited the shores of Sag Harbor and the headwaters of the Speonk River. We have seen inside sawmills and firehouses and traced the mysteries of local preservation laws.
I want to thank all the award winners for their time and interviews. I especially want to thank Sarah Kautz and Preservation Long Island for letting us help host this week of celebrations. We hope you've enjoyed listening and that you are inspired to take a look around your own corner of Long Island and get involved in determining what history gets saved and what gets remembered.
Further Research
- Oakdale Historical Society (Facebook)
- Original Idle Hour Mansion (NYPL)
- Oakdale Surveys (Long Island Traditions)
- Preservation Long Island
- Music
- BugaBlue
- Walk That Dog
- People at a Party
The Fordham Mill (also known as the Tuttle-Fordham Mill or the Brick Mill) in Remsenburg was a local landmark long before it caught the eye of John Kanas. Growing up on the East End, John would pass the brick building that sits across the Speonk River, little knowing that he would one day be the one to save it.
Fast forward to 2017 when the John and Elaine Kanas Foundation purchased the property and set about rehabilitating the former sawmill for modern use. Today you'll hear about that restoration effort, which led to the Foundation being honored with one of this year's Preservation Awards from Preservation Long Island.
Further Research
- Fordham Mill
- Tuttle-Fordham Mill (West Hampton Historical Society)
- Roslyn Gristmill
- Music
- BugaBlue
- Walk That Dog
- People at a Party
Welcome back to the awards ceremony. Today we hit the beach to talk to Mary Cascone, Babylon Town Historian, about the Oak Beach Life-Saving Station.
Perched between the Great South Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, the station withstood the ravages of wind, rain, and Superstorm Sandy. It has been moved a few times and gone through a number of uses but still retained much of its original details when the Town began its restoration in earnest in 2013.
You’ll hear about Mary’s quest to uncover the full history of the building, the challenges of the preservation project, and the local, state, and federal support that made it all possible.
Further Research
- Town of Babylon Historic Services
- Historic Life-Saving Stations to Visit
- U.S. Life-Saving Service Heritage Association
- Black Locust: The Tree on Which the US was Built
- OBI (The Oak Beach Inn) Music Video by David Ippolito
- Music
- BugaBlue
- Walk That Dog
- People at a Party
- Audio Footnote
- Interview with Mary Cascone
- Interview with the Barbash family on Robert Moses and Fire Island
The preservation awards ceremony continues! Today we speak with Erinn McDonnell of the village of Sea Cliff in Nassau County. Erinn managed the restoration of their 1931, Tudor revival-style firehouse on Roslyn Avenue, challegened to restore the building's distinctive steel casement windows without disrupting the operations of a working firehouse.
With a mix of funding support from state and local government, the village was able to revitalize this important piece of the local landscape. Erinn tells us about the decisions that had to be made, the story that had to be told, and the stubborness it took to keep it all on track.
Further Research
- Village of Sea Cliff
- Sea Cliff Firehouse
- Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)
- Postcards of Sea Cliff, Sea Cliff Village Museum
- Music
- BugaBlue
- Walk That Dog
- People at a Party
It’s a preservation party and you’re all invited!
We’ve teamed up with Preservation Long Island to help celebrate their 2020 Preservation Awards. Over the next week we’ll be posting interviews with each of the five honorees, discussing their organizations and the histories that they are fighting to preserve. And stick around for the after party! At the end of each episode, Sarah Kautz, Preservation Director at Preservation Long Island, will recap for us the finer points of running a successful preservation project on Long Island.
Today we speak with SANS Sag Harbor president Renee Simons about the push to preserve three historic African American subdivisions in the area: Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest, and Ninevah. Started as summer resort areas after World War II, the three neighborhoods provided African Americans a safe retreat during highly segregated times.
Although threats to the continued existence of SANS still exist, the three areas are now listed on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places.
Further Research
- The Founding and Future of Sag Harbor’s Azurest Subdivision
- The Land was Ours by Andrew W. Kahrl (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Art and Architecture of Amaza Lee Meredith(VSU)
- Preservation Long Island
- The Green Book (NYPL Digital Collections)
- Music
- BugaBlue
- Walk That Dog
- People at a Party
- Audio Footnote:
- Interview with Georgette Grier-Key, Eastville Historical Society
We travel this week to the Adirondacks (virtually speaking) to talk with John Warren, founder and publisher of New York Almanack. Formerly known as the New York History Blog, the Almanack delivers stories and information about all aspects of New York State history as well as the Adirondacks region.
John has pursued history in many forms, including his degree in Public History and his work producing documentaries for the History and Discovery channels. Through the Almanack, he provides a trailhead that can lead you to every corner and era of the state, from Freedomland in the Bronx of the 1960s to the Revolutionary War Forts at Canajoharie.
We also talk about researching in old newspapers, Ken Burns, and the upstate view of Long Island.
Further Research
- New York Almanack
- William G. Pomeroy Foundation
- Adirondack Experience
- NYS Historic Newspapers
- Old Fulton History
Our sojourn through the hallowed pages of the Suffolk County News from 1920 hit a speedbump this week when it turned out that no digital copy was available online. To help us sort things out, we called on Chuck Henry.
Chuck is the IT Coordinator for the Northern New York Library Network (NNYLN). Part of his job is helping to keep things running at the New York State Historic Newspapers website, shepherding millions of pages of New York newspapers from their frozen microfilm existence to a new life in a free and open digital database.
We learn more about the operations and origins of NNLYN's work, what treasures lurk within, and how more people should be exploring New York's varied past.
Further Research
- NYS Historic Newspapers
- The Heuvelton Bee
- Suffolk County News
- Northern New York Library Network
The places we live are filled with the stories of our lives, told room by room like chapters in a book. So how do you read a home?
That's what Kendra Gaylord does on her podcast, Someone Lived Here. She explores historic houses to find the people who inhabited them, from poets and photographers to inventors and musicians.
Today she takes us on a tour of her podcast and introduces us to the people she's met. Along the way we compare research techniques, editing practices, and historic house gift shops.
Further Research
- Someone Lived Here
- Steepletop (Edna St. Vincent Millay's House)
- Lewis Latimer House Museum
- Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center
- Alice Austen House
- Two Degrees of Peri Gilpin
We wade once again into the cool stream of the digital past to fish for items from the Suffolk County News of 1920. Today is Friday, May 14th in the last century and we find glimpses of lost silent films, more automobile accidents, and the dismantling of one of the great estates of the South Shore.
Welcome back to our exploration of the Suffolk County News, bringing tales of life from a century ago. This week, there is some bad hooch going around, the hometown team wins their opener, and Will Rogers has a new movie out.
We return today to the sea to consider the whale. More specifically, we talk with Brenna McCormick-Thompson of the Whaling Museum and Education Center in Cold Spring Harbor. Brenna is the Curator of Education at the museum and helps tell the story of Long Island whaling to visitors of all ages.
Our discussion covers the important role Long Island played in the development of the whaling industry in America, the important role that museums play in educating us about the past, and the appeal of historic bathrooms.
Further Research
- The Whaling Museum & Education Center
- @CSHWhaling on Twitter
- How to Dissect a Whale
- Sag Harbor Whaling Tales
- Whaling (On This Site)
- Royal Museums Greenwich
- Audio Footnotes
- Episode 88 with Erin Elizabeth Becker
- Episode 82 with John Strong
If it's Friday and we're still in self-isolation, then this is another edition of the Suffolk County News, give or take one hundred years. We're reading through the newspaper as it appeared in 1920 and pulling out the highlights, the miscellany, and the unjustly forgotten.
In today's paper we find a case of suspended animation, high sugar prices, and the birth of a new highway.
Further Research
- NYS Historic Newspapers
- The Best Scenic Stops Along Montauk Highway
The latest edition of last century's Suffolk County News is here, for April 23rd, 1920. We continue easing our home isolation by reading what was going on in our region all those years ago.
This week: a strange burglary, more coffee, and hints of an eighties superband.
Two museum directors, one public librarian, an artist, a researcher and a journalist. We're spending time today catching up with past guests to see how they're faring. The result is a small glimpse into the lives of six people from the region and how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted them and their jobs.
Also - the return of Connie Currie!
Thanks to all of our guests and we hope that everyone gets through this safely.
Further Research
- Jeremy Dennis
- Episode 51
- On This Site
- @Jeremynative
- Melanie Cardone-Leathers
- Episode 58
- Longwood Public Library Bayles Local History Room
- Longwood Collective: Preserving Yesterday & Today for Tomorrow
- Chris Vacarro
- Episode 72
- Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame
- @ChrisVaccaro
- Tom Edmonds
- Episode 86
- Southampton History Museum
- Southampton and the Devastating Influenza Epidemic of 1918 (Mary Cummings)
- Alexandra Wolfe
- Episode 91
- Preservation Long Island
- @PreservationLI
- Kate Robbins
- Episode 87
- Kate Robbins Research
- Tod Robbins
We continue our trek through the local news of a century gone by. Today we read the Suffolk County News from Arpil 16, 1920. We find stories of bootleggers, war-torn France and two spinster sisters freed from an insane asylum after a decade of confinement.
Further Research
- Hal B. Fullerton Photo Exhibit (Heckscher Museum of Art)
- Audio Footnotes
- On Mile a Minute Murphy
- Long Island and Prohibition
The Freemasons have been with us since the beginning of our country. And no, they do not have secret repositories of hidden gold. They do have a long history of service, community-building and camaraderie that persists to the present. Today we welcome Ron Seifried to the podcast to explore the history and development of Freemasonry in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
Further Research
- Long Island Freemasons by Ron Seifried (Arcadia Press)
- Masons of Jephtha No. 494
- Suffolk Masonic District
- Freemasonry - George Washington (Mount Vernon)
- Audio Footnote:
- Being Teddy Roosevelt
We're continuing our look at the news from 1920. Today, the Suffolk County News from Friday, April 9th. Animosity between Sayville and Patchogue on a number of levels, a case of the mumps going around, and warrior musicians returning to life during peacetime.
Further Research
- NYS Historic Newspapers
- Mumps (CDC)
- "From Horse Power to Horsepower" by Eric Morris. Access Magazine, 2007.
We're using our home isolation to look back - reading issues of the Suffolk County News of 1920 week by week. For April 2, 1920: Al Smith, Fatty Arbuckle, and a cow with no tail lights.
Stay tuned for more news of 1920 next week!
Further Research
- NYS Historic Newspapers
- Enrico Caruso
- Audio footnote:
Episode 60: The Soldier City of Suffolk County
Today our guest, Erin Elizabeth Becker, recounts the story of her great grandmother, Marion Murdoch O’Hara, who worked for the US Radium Corporation in New York City. Through genealogical and historical research, Erin discovered a powerful and unforgettable member of her family who was tied to a dark chapter of American history.
In the 1920s, many young women eagerly signed up to work as "radium girls" in well-paying positions appplying radium-tinged paint to comercial items. The radium made watch hands and clock faces glow in the dark but it was also a sinister threat, leading to sickness and death for many of those who worked with it unprotected.
Further Research
- "Great Grandma Barrett was a Shining Woman"
- Radium Girls by Kate Moore (Find in a Library via WorldCat)
- Radium Girls (2018) IMDB
- "The Radium Girls" (Atomic Heritage Foundation)
We're using our home isolation to look back - reading issues of the Suffolk County News of 1920 week by week. They had quarantines back then too, it turns out, along with corsets and a lot of poultry.
Stay tuned for more news of 1920 next week!
Further Research
- NYS Historic Newspapers
- NYC Mayor LaGuardia's Legendary Radio Readings (NPR)
- Audio footnote:
Episode 69: We Bought a Newspaper
The LaGrange Inn was a storied stopping point along Montauk Highway from the 1700s when it opened for business with a Higbie at the helm. It remained a local landmark, operating under many different proprietors, into the 21st century.
Now, thanks to many dedicated people in the community (and to CVS), a part of the LaGrange survives as the West Islip Historical Society Museum. Today, Harry Higbie (a descendant of the original owners), takes us through the history of the property, his family research, and the present state of the LaGrange.
Further Research:
- West Islip Historical Society
- West Islip Historical Society Celebrates its New Home in the Lagrange Inn (Greater Bay Shore)
- Higbie Family Reunion (NYT Oct 11, 1925)
History is not the full story if not everyone gets to tell it. And in places where the traditional records are scarce or silent, where do you look for answers? Today we speak with anthropologist Christopher Matthews about his work in Setauket helping the people of a traditionally Native American (the Setalcotts) and African American community uncover more of their past. Working with Robert Lewis of the Higher Ground Intercultural and Heritage Association, along with long-time residents of Christian Avenue in Setauket, Chris and his colleauges have dug stories from the earth. These range from the laundry run by Hannah Hart out of her house on Lake and Main to stone tools found on the Silas Tobias site along Conscience Bay.
We also talk about the goals and values of community archaeology as well as the need to see these places as living communities to be supported now and not as something that has disappeared.
Links
- Christopher Matthews (Montclair State University)
- Christopher Matthews on Academia.edu
- Setalcott Nation Facebook Group
- A Counter Map of Setauket, New York
- The Bethel-Christian Avenue-Laurel Hill Historic District (via Long Island History Journal)
- Setauket (Mapping the African American Past, Columbia University)
Warren McDowell, former publisher of The Fire Island Tide, has been pondering the mystery of how Fire Island got its name all his life. This burning question has been answered in many ways over the years. Many myths, legends and theories have been proposed but Warren wanted sources. He turned his newspaperman's eye to every old map he could find.
The result is an eye-catching cartographic, geographic and social history of a barrier beach. Warren presents a well-researched and documented argument for the origin of Fire Island while also illuminating the spirit at the heart of the place.
Mark Smith, bottle collector extraordinaire last heard on episode #63, returns to reveal his other Long Island history passion: pottery!
We get an inside look at his private collection of crocks and jugs (and butter churns) documenting the evolution of pottery on the Island. We'll dive into the history of Huntington's pottery industry in particular, tracing the rise and fall of a speicifc business that changed hands many times over the course of the 19th century.
Research
- Huntington Pottery: The Brown Brother Years by Mark R. Smith
- Useful Art: Long Island Pottery by Cynthia A. Corbett. (Find in a library via WorldCat)
- Episode 63: Bottle Collecting with Mark R. Smith
- Drumroll sound effect by Scheffler (CC0 1.0) via FreeSound.org
Theresa Dodaro survived a life-threatening illness, waking from a coma determined to make the most of the time she had been gifted. One of the promises she made to herself: write. Since then, she has published four books and is working on her fifth.
On this episode we discuss her journey and her process, how she combines her love of Long Island history with a desire to promote healing and communication through her work. The historical novels she writes draw from her own past, her genealogical research, and her eye for a good story. That can lead to a coming-of-age tale in 1960s Baldwin, an epic of World War II refugees, or a time travel romance on the South Shore in 1912. No matter the era, the human element remains the same.
Further Research
- Theresa Dodaro.com
- Theresa Dodaro Books on Instagram
- Sayville Happenings & History Facebook Group
- The Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff
- Meadow Croft
- The Kate Chopin International Society
- The Ashokan Reservoir (Hudson Valley Magazine)
America tried something new from 1920 to 1933: outlawing the production, sale and transportation of intoxicating liquors. In that same spirit of social experimentation, we made this episode something new. It's a joint production of the Long Island History Project and Bar Crawl Radio.
Our guest is Jonathan Olly, a curator and public historian from the Long Island Museum. Our topic is Prohibition on Long Island and the long road of protest and activism that led to the passage of the 18th ammendment. Our location: a bar in Patchogue.
Come raise a glass with us as we explore temperance, rum running, and the business acumen of South Shore boatbuilders who built for both the Coast Guard and the bootleggers.
This episode is one version of our conversation, edited by Chris Kretz. To hear what Alan and Becky mixed up from the same ingredients, head over to Bar Crawl Radio. One recording, two shows. And thanks to the owners of 22 West Main St. in Patchouge (formerly Hoptron, soon to be your Nashville honky tonk go-to watering hole) for hosting us on site!
We take a look back at the Revolutionary War on Long Island, courtesy of the Brentwood Public Library and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Peter Ward, the library's local history librarian, served as host. The Institute funded it; Peter Carmona, librarian trainee, recorded it. Historians Joanne Grasso of NYIT and Peter Bales of Queensboro Community College were the experts on the panel along with Chris Kretz, who mixed the whole thing down into bite sized pieces for your enjoyment.
Further Research
- Revisiting the Founding Era
- Local History Room
- Dr. Peter Bales
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the 21st Century (2017)
-
Dr. Joanne Grasso
- George Washington's 1790 Grand Tour of Long Island (2018)
- The American Revolution on Long Island (2016)
- Histories of Long Island (via WorldCat)
- British Prison Ships (podcast from the Bklyn Historical Society)
-
Brentwood Public Library
-
Average Brentwood Teens Podcast
- Brentwood Historical Society
We were saddened by the recent news of the passing of Gene Horton, Blue Point historian, former social studies teacher, tour guide, storyteller, friend and colleague.
To honor Gene’s memory and his passion for Long Island history, we’re reposting here excerpts from two interviews we conducted with him over the years. One is from 2006 and the other from 2014.
Our condolences go out to his family and all those who were lucky enough to know him.
Links
- Books by Gene Horton (find in a library via WorldCat)
- The Sage of Blue Point (complete interview)
- Meadowcroft Estate (Bayport – Blue Point Heritage Association)
- Service details
Elaine Kiesling Whitehouse knows a good story when she sees it, and those stories often come from history. Writing from an early age, she was intrigued by the signs of the past all around her. There was a WWI era German radio transmitting station across the street and the decaying windmill of a former Gilded Age estate down the block.
On today's episode, we discuss Elaine's writing history and how she has drawn on Long Island's past for inspiration. Her novel Hart's Tavern, set in Revolutionary War-era Patchogue, sprang from a roadside marker commemorating George Washington's trip through the area in 1790. She also relates the valuable lessons she learned as the editor of the Fire Island Tide as well as the writing career of her husband, Jack Whitehouse.
Research
- Hart's Tavern (find in a library via WorldCat)
- 3 Legends of Fire Island and the Great South Bay (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Elaine Kiesling Whitehouse (LI Authors Group)
- Hart's Tavern Historical Marker
- Bourne Windmill
- The Radio Tower podcast
- Revisiting Telefunken (SCN)
Audio Footnotes
- Truth Behind the Spies with Bev Tyler
- Terry Ketcham Inn
- Mark Rothenberg
- Mary Lou Cohalan
- Warren McDowell
Imagine a world with a private airport around every corner and an airplane in every garage. Where your form of ID could just as easily be a pilot's license as a driver's license and your weekend is spent with people with names like "Red" and "Speed" and "Ace".
That's the world Walt Winnicki grew up in, learning to fly on Long Island in the early 1950s. And that's the world that Bob Mott and the Bayport Aerodrome Society is trying to preserve.
On this episode, both men relate their long history and love of flying. We also discuss the lost world of private airfields and the near miraculous survival of the Bayport Aerodrome, built by Curtis Davis out of his family's corn field right after World War II.
Research
- Bayport Aerodrome Society
- Cradle of Aviation Museum
- Long Island Airports
- 50 Years Later, ‘Blind’ Flight is Routine (NYT)
- The Brunner Winkle Bird
- Biplane noise from Freesound.org (by Loveburd)
David Morrison knows his railroads, from his six books on LIRR history and stations to his extensive research collection to his years overseeing thirty-nine stations. With his seventh book due out from Arcadia Press on July 15th, we could think of no better time to sit down with David and get a crash course on the history of the Long Island Rail Road.
Books
- Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station: Statuary and Sculputres by David Morrison
- Books by David Morrison
- The Late, Great Pennsylvania Station by Lorraine B. Diehl
- Miles of Smiles: The Story of Roxey, the Long Island Rail Road Dog by Heather H. Worthington and Bill Farnsworth
Websites
- Trains are Fun
- Oyster Bay Railroad Museum
- Railroad Museum of Long Island
- Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
- Wantagh Preservation Society and Wantagh Museum
The life of an actor is never easy, so it's not surprising that many early Broadway stars made a point of vacationing in solitude on Long Island whenever they could. You might be surprised, however, at the prevailing working conditions and labor strugles they were often performing under in early 20th-cenutry theater. While the fast-growing industry was lucrative for producers like the Shuberts and Belascos, it offered many hardships for those who worked in front of and behind the curtain.
Caroline Propersi-Grossman, a PhD candidate in history at SUNY Stony Brook, walks us through these labor struggles and their culmination in the Actors' Equity strike of 1919. With scenes including Ethel Barrymore and W.C. Fields on the picket line to George M. Cohen in the role of strike-breaker, it's a story that encapsulates much of labory history and the greater turmoil of 1919.
For Caroline, this is backdrop to her dissertation, The Creative Hands: Stagehands, Their Union, and the Backstage/Frontstage Divide, which is a gendered labor history that focuses on the relationship between work, culture, gender, and race in New York City’s entertainment industry between 1945 and 1995. Caroline served as the Stony Brook University chief steward for the Graduate Student Employees Union/Communications Workers of America Local 1104 and is currently organizing with Service Employees International Union 1199.
Research
- Caroline Propersi-Grossman @carolinecprogro
- Women Also Know History
- One Hundred Years of Equity Strikes and Labor Solidarity
- All the World's a Stage! The Actors' Strike of 1919
- History: Actors' Equity
- Long Island Scintilates with Stage Stars at Play (NYS Historic Newspapers)
Every other year, Preservation Long Island compiles a list of endangered historic places in need of saving. Sarah Kautz, their Preservation Director, joins us to discuss the four sites chosen for 2019. From a family farm in East Patchogue to a life saving station on Fire Island, each of these sites presents a unique case study in Long Island's history and the many challenges involved in preserving historic structures.
Islip Town Historian George Munkenbeck provides a look at the amazing Ludlows - the first family of Oakdale, veterans of the Civil War and beyond, and caretakers of St. John's Episcopal Church on Montauk Highway. Louisa, the matriarch, descended from the first Lord of the Manor. Her husband, William Handey Ludlow, was a leading figure in the Democratic Party. One son saved the Constitution, the other inspired the National Parks system. And today they are all but forgotten.
This episode originally aired in two parts on the Dowling College Library Omnibus podcast back in 2010. We are bringing it out of the vault in a slightly condensed form to help celebrate the 335th anniversary of Islip Town.
Two hundred years ago, the man who broke American poetry forever was born in West Hills, Long Island. His house remains a shrine and place of pilgrimage for fans and poetry lovers from around the world.
Cynthia Shor is Executive Director of the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association. She's responsible for the programming and operations and most importantly, the bicentennial celebrations. On today's episode, we talk the history of the site, the life of Whitman, and the impact of his poetry.
Further Research
- Walt Whitman Birthplace
- So We Bought a Poet's Shrine
- The Walt Whitman House (Camden)
- Walt Whitman (Poetry Foundation)
Erin is the Visitor Services & Volunteer Coordinator at the Long Island Maritime Museum as well as the Museum Educator at the Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum. As such she's perfectly situated to tell us about the current state of museums - and also the varied maritime histories of the North and South Shores. From whales to oysters, from field trips to date nights, there is much to discuss.
Clarence H. Robbins was a master of hounds and horses, a gentleman jockey and trainer, and a member of Brooklyn's Gilded Age elite. Come explore this forgotten Long Island figure with Kate Robbins, wife of Clarence's great grandson. Kate has taken on the mantle of family historian, spending years tracking down everything to do with the Robbins name.
The hunt has taken her from the family's early days dealing in Brooklyn real estate to Clarence's horse stables in Great River, to the French ex-pat lifestyle of Clarence's son, noted author Tod Robbins. It gives a fascinating look into the Gilded Age sports lifestyle on Long Island, from fox hunting to dog shows to exclusive riding clubs.
Further Research
- Smithtown Hunt Survives in Suburbia
- The Meadowbrook Polo Club: Our History
- Red of Surley by Tod Robbins
More than a beach or a brand, Southampton has a history that stretches back thousands of years. The coming of English settlers in the 17th century only complicated matters. The coming of the railroad and wealthy New Yorkers in the 19th century led to a Gilded Age enclave of entrepreneurs, socialites, and celebrities. Now known world-wide as an exclusive destination, does that help or hinder preserving the village's local history?
Learn all this and more as we sit down and talk with Tom Edmonds, director of the Southampton History Museum.
Further Research
- Southampton History Museum
- Christie's Auction
- Gary Lawrence Mansions of the Gilded Age on Instagram
- The History BA Since the Great Recession
Linda Metzger is the Long Island Genealogist. On today's episode, you'll hear how she turned a hobby into a career working to uncover the lost or simply forgotten stories of people and their lives.
We've interviewed people who have restored houses and inns and even old race cars but how do you go about restoring a lake? We conitnue our conversation with Evelyn Vollgraff (Lake Ronkonkoma Historical Society) and Danielle Campbell (News 12) to learn how to do just that. Turns out you need a dedicated commmunity, invested local businesses, and a host of helpful politicians.
Further Research
- Lake Ronkonkoma Improvement Group
- The Return of the Lady of Lake Ronkonkoma (NYTimes)
- Do You Remember Yarlows and all the other old stores of Roknonkoma
- Lake Ronkonkoma Improvement Group Honored from Senate Floor
The waters of Lake Ronkonkoma have seen it all: Native Americans, English settlers, Broadway actresses, 20th century resort-goers and automobile racers. No one knows this better than Evelyn Vollgraff, president of the Lake Ronkonkoma Historical Society.
Today we dive into the history of the lake, the many myths and legends that surround this very heart of the Island. Joining us again is Danielle Campbell of News 12, who had her own part to play in the story of Lake Ronkonkoma.
This is part 1 of 2. Join us in two weeks to hear what it takes to preserve a 243-acre body of water.
Dr. John Strong, professor emeritus of Southampton College, has spent a career pursuing the history of Long Island's Native Americans. His latest achievement is bringing to life the earliest days of American whaling, using what amounts to 17th century spreadsheets. He uncovers an East End in a whaling frenzy.
Start-up companies (called whale designs) organized by the promiment familes of the area turned to an emerging generation of Native Americans to man their boats and hunt whales off the shore. It could be brutal, bloody, and incredibly profitable.
Further Research
- America's Early Whalemen: Indain Shore Whalers on Long Island, 1650-1750
- Southampton History Museum
- Skeletal Remains Found at Construction Site (27East)
- Shinnecock Hills Preservation Fund
We usher in the holiday season early with this deep dive into the Charles Dickens Festival in Port Jefferson. Five of the driving forces behind the Festival, including four of the actors, tell us what it's like re-enacting the Victorian Era and what Dickens means to them.
Further Research
- Arts Council Greater Port Jefferson Northern Brookhaven
- One Life to Give
- The Brigands
- Lifetime: One
Kerriann Flanagan Brosky investigates ghosts and other paranormal phenomenon on Long Island. She has long been fascinated with the links between local history and ghostly sightings, weaving the two together in her books. With her partner Joe Giaquinto, she has investigated and written about Long Island's old buildings and homes and the spirits who inhabit them.
Further Research
- Kerriann Flanagan Brosky
- Books by Kerriann (via WorldCat)
- Joe Giaquinto (Long Island Medium and Ghost Investigator)
- Peter Underwood (The Independent, 2/6/2015)
- William Sidney Mount (National Gallery of Art)
- Long Island Crime Expo (11/3/2018)
Joe Mandanici describes the 1974 fire at Dowling College in Oakdale from his vantage point as a volunteer firefighter at the scene.
Who knew that firehouses were such deep sources of local history? In the town of Islip, they are overflowing with trophies, photos, devices, and mechanisms going back to the 1800s. There was so much history, in fact, that a dedicated group of firefighters and volunteers spent over two decades making the Islip Town Fire & EMS Museum a reality.
Hear Tom Rinelli, the museum's historian, describe that rich history and what it tells us about life (and fires) on Long Island, the evolution of firefighting, and the unique brotherhood of people who volunteer to run into burning buildings.
Further Research.
- Islip Town Fire & EMS Museum
- Nassau County Firefighters Museum
- Brookhaven Volunteer Firefighters Museum
- American Truck Historical Society Long Island Chapter
- Association of Nassau County Fire Historians
This is a feed-only episode of the Project, recorded during a podcast workshop at the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton. We did a few quick takes with the group, asking them about their memories of summer in the area. In my defense, I had been told that blueberries in Southampton were a thing.
Many thanks to everyone who attended and I hope you like the results. I look forward to your future podcast endeavors!
Matthew Monelione is back to discuss his new fantasy comic book series set in Revolutionary War-era Long Island. If you are a fan of history, JRR Tolkien, or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you'll want to check it out. We discuss what it takes to produce an independent comic as well as Matt's on-going research into the Loyalist experience on Long Island. We also pitch a few ideas for new Long Island history comic series.
Further Research
- Spirit Guild
- @SpiritGuildBook
- @SpiritGuild on Instagram
- Comix Central
- Patriots Against Loyalists on Eastern Long Island, 1775-1776
- Episode 48: Floyds Like Us
Margo Arceri grew up with history. A native of Strong's Neck in Setauket, she learned early on the stories of Anna Smith Strong and the role she played in the Culper Spy Ring during the Revolution. She got to explore the very coves and inlets that sheltered Brewster Caleb and Abraham Woodhull. And she heard it all from Anna's great great granddaughter.
This is a special cross-over episode featuring Margo and Danielle Campbell, newsanchor and journalist for News Channel 12. Make sure you check out Danielle's interview about her career in radio and New York journalism on episode 7 of the Radio Tower, the official podcast of the Long Island Radio & Television Historical Society.
Further Research:
- Tri-Spy Tours
- Redcoats and Petticoats by Katherine Kirkpatrick and Ronald Himler
- The Memoir of Col. Benjamin Tallmadge
- Stories of Old Long Island by Birdsall Jackson
- The Truth Behind the Spies: Decoding AMC's Turn (Bev Tyler)
Behind every great woman stands another great woman and Natalie Naylor is bringing them to light. Her book, Women in Long Island's Past (History Press, 2012), highlights the number of notable women who have achievevd so much on Long Island over the centuries.
PJ Novak wrote the history of Huntington on a postcard. A librarian, archivist and dedicated deltiologist, she is also the author of Huntington from the Postcard History Series of Arcadia Press.
On this episode she walks us through the many hamlets and villages of Huntington at the turn of the last century, pointing out the buildings, the bobsleds, and the people who made up the community.
We also discuss the history of the postcard itself, a simple yet fascinating message from the past that can tell us many things today.
The Long Island Ducks personified an era and a brand of hockey. From 1959 to 1973, they fought, checked, and slashed their way through the Eastern Hockey League and the Long Island Arena in Commack.
If this sounds vaguely familiar, think back to the 1977 film Slap Shot with Paul Newman. Newman's character, Reg Dunlop, was based on the Duck's defensiveman John Brophy.
Chrs Vaccaro, head of the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame, relates the story of this storied franchise. Connie Currie tells her own story of watching the Ducks play and what it was like inside that big drafty barn of a stadium when the pucks were flying.
We've been tracking the history of the Culper Spy Ring for a while on the Project but today we go to the source - two primary sources to be exact.
Kristen Nyitray, Director of Special Collections and University Archives at Stony Brook, and Chris Filstrup, former Dean of SBU Libraries, discuss their pursuit and acquisition of two letters by George Washington to Benjamin Tallmadge about the operations of the spy ring. You'll hear about Washington's hands-on approach to spycraft and the dangers the Ring faced operating out of enemy territory.
Kristen also describes the Culper Alliance that formed betwen Stony Brook, NYS Assemblyman Steve Englebright, and local cultural heritage organizations from the Three Village Historical Society to Raynham Hall in Oyster Bay. From the shores of Setauket to the auction room at Christie's, this story reveals the continuing evolution of the Culper Spy Ring's historical significance.
Further Research
- George Washington and the Culper Spy Ring (SBU Libraries)
- Spies in the Archives: Acquiring Revolutionary War Spy Letters Through Community Engagement by Kristen Nyitray and Sally Stieglitz
- Raynham Hal Museum
- Three Village Historical Society
- Music: Fife and Drums by Kevin MacLeod licensed under:
- Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
- Washington's Spies by Alexander Rose (find in a library)
- Past Culper Spy Ring/TURN episodes on the Long Island History Project
Gil Bergen was the long-time superintendent of the Connetquot River State Park Preserve in Oakdale. His association with the park goes back to 1945 when he started working at what was then the storied South Side Sportsmen's Club.
This intervew, recorded in 2007 at the Park, includes Sallie Kachell and Rhoda McManus of Oakdale. You'll hear Gil describe the men who made up the membership of the club: heads of state, captains of industry, and all devoted to the preservation of this one slice of Long Island's natural heritage.
Mary Lou Cohalan and friends bought the Suffolk County News in the late 1960s. Hear about the trials and tribulations of running a hometown paper on Long Island, from the every day of school votes and local government to the extraordinary catastrophes that drop out of the sky.
Further Research
- The Suffolk County News
- Sayville Cabinet for the Sick
Chris Bodkin concludes his visit to Sayville past with this third installment. We talk about his mother's trips out here during the Great Depression, Father Divine and the African American community, and Dr. Bard, dentist to the stars and first ladies.
Longtime Sayville resident Chris Bodkin continues his look back at Sayville's history. Today we talk about his time as a captain on the Fire Island Ferries and his move into local politics.
Then we look at a few of the stories behind Sayville's war veterans memorialized in Sparrow Park. Chapter 3 of Chris' story is coming soon.
Long-time Sayvile resident Chris Bodkin discusses his childhood in 1950s Sayville: life on the bay, Main Street, and the unexpected thrill of the first pizza store.
Henry Livingston came to Babylon in 1869 and founded the South Side Signal. He made an immediate splash advocating for Babylon to split from the town of Huntington and went on to lead the paper into the 20th century.
On this episode, Babylon Town Historian Mary Cascone relates the history of the paper: its influence, evolution, and style. We also trade stories of newspaper research, microfilm readers, and the glory of digitized collections.
As a little side experiment - help us document the noble yet forgotten microfilm machine. Send us a picture of a microfilm reader in the wild to longislandhistoryproject [at] gmail.com
Further Research
- South Side Signal at NYS Historic Newspapers
- Brooklyn Daily Eagle (from Brooklyn Public Library)
- Town of Babylon Historic Services
- Mary Cascone Amazon Author Page
Mark R. Smith saves time in a bottle, literally. His antique bottle collection preserves the memory of local dairies, pharmacies, hotels and more. It also tells the story of a time when milkmen roamed the earth, when an outhouse was a man's castle, and when just about anything could be labeled "medicine."
Listen as Mark walks us through the history of bottle making, the local businesses of Sayville and Oakdale, and his equally-obsessive love of ceramics.
Further Research:
- Long Island Antique Bottle Association (Facebook)
- Antique Bottle Dive Off Long Island
The 1989 fire that nearly destroyed the Terry-Ketcham Inn brought Bert Seides to tears but it also set him on the road to saving the historic Moriches landmark. Building from a small group of volunteers meeting around Mary and Van Field’s kitchen table, Bert marshaled support and learned to navigate a maze of regulations, paperwork, and government agencies to bring the 1693 Inn back to life. In this discussion he provides a road map for preservation projects and reveals the hard work involved, from painstaking research to outreach programs to, of course, book sales.
Bob Keeler wrote the book on Newsday, a candid history detailing the origin story of Long Island's original tabloid. On this episode we discuss that history, including the relationship of Alicia Patterson and Harry Guggenheim, the rollicking newsroom of the '50s and '60s, and more.
Bob also relates his own history at the paper, including his atypical Pulitzer Prize and his trip to see the Pope.
Further Research
- Newsday: A Candid History of the Respectable Tabloid by Robert Keeler (find in a library)
- The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro (find in a library)
- Falaise: Sands Point Preserve
- Interview with journalist Karl Grossman on the Shoreham nuclear power plant
- Interview with the Barbash family on the Fire Island road
Imagine a city rising from the fields of Suffolk County in the early 20th cenutry, a wooden metropolis covering almost 20,000 acres. It has its own post office, theater, library and fire department. The place could fit close to 40,000 people with room for 15,000 horses. Imagine that and you've got Camp Upton.
Today our guests Suzanne Johnson and David Clemens discuss the history of Camp Upton, the vast military training camp in Brookhaven that served the US Army in World War I and II. We focus on their new book, Camp Upton, from Arcadia Press which features images of the life of the camp throughout 1917-18 and beyond. Many of the images are drawn from the Longwood Public Library where both Suzanne and David were directors. You'll hear about the 77th Division, the Harlem Hellfighters, Irving Berlin, and the amazing feat of raising an army to fight The War to End All Wars.
Further Research
- Camp Upton by Suzanne Johnson and David Clemens
- Longwood Public Library Digital Collection
- Camp Upton (via Brookhaven National Laboratory)
- Irving Berlin (Songwriters Hall of Fame)
Few authors are more synonymous with a place and point in time than F. Scott Fitzgerald. His Great Gatsby came to define the 1920s and cast a golden aura across Long Island’s North Shore for all time.
On today’s episode, Charles Riley guides us through the birth of The Great Gatsby and Fitzgerald’s struggle to make it into a masterpiece. Charles is the director of the Nassau County Museum of Art and author of Free as Gods: How the Jazz Age Reinvented Modernism.
Further Research:
- Free as Gods: How the Jazz Age Reinvented Modernism by Charles Riley. (find in a library)
- Nassau County Museum of Art
- So We Read On: How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures by Maureen Corrigan (find in a library)
- “Where is Jay Gatsby’s Mansion?” via Slate.
Melanie Cardone-Leathers is the Local History Librarian at the Longwood Public Library. Today she regales us with tales covering three centuries and many locations. There is Benjamin Tallmadge burning the British hay at Coram during the Revolution. And the boot-strapping of Gordon Heights by African Americans from Harlem and beyond. How about Camps Siegfried and Upton, the former a 1930s, Nazi-inflected retreat and the latter a staging ground for troops during World War I and II?
To round it off, we experience the thrills of Fairy Town's roadside attractions and Connie tells her monkey story.
Further Research:
- Thomas R. Bayles Local History Room
- Longwood Historic Photographs
- The Gordon Heights Archives
- The Tallmadge Trail
- Camp Upton
Carol Gilliam is the Black Heritage Librarian at Roosevelt Public Library where she oversees a collection dedicated to black culture and history. On this episode we discuss the growth and use of the collection as well as the Harlem Renaissance, Chuck D and Julius Irving.
We also cover the history of Roosevelt, known as Rum Point for most of the 19th century, as well as the challenges and opportunities of preserving its past.
Further Research
- The Black Heritage Collection
- Roosevelt Year Books
- Chuck D Presents This Day in Rap and Hip-Hop History (find in a library)
- Zora Neale Hurston Award
Bill Bleyer has a knack for finding history - or maybe it finds him. He had front row seats for Woodstock, did battle with Robert Moses, and got tear-gassed at the 1972 Republican National Convention. Now, after a decades-long career in journalism at Newsday, he writes books about the history of Long Island.
Today's interview covers Bill's career, his love for rock and roll, and the interesting corners of the Island's history that he's found over the years.
Further Research:
- Bill's books on Facebook
- Fire Island Lighthouse
- Long Island and the Civil War (on Facebook)
- Sagamore Hill
- "Marking the Dual Legacy of Robert Moses." (NYT)
- Newsday: A Candid History of the Respectable Tabloid by Robert F. Keeler (Find in a library)
- Press Club of Long Island
It's the summer of 1885 and an industrious and itinerant hotel man named Frank P. Thompson is making history on Long Island. Working for the season at the Argyle Hotel in Babylon, Frank forms a baseball team for exhibition games and barnstorming through the area. Some say they formed as the Black Panthers but they went on to become the Cuban Giants, the first professional African-American team in history.
On today's episode, fellow librarian Fabio Montella relates the story of the Cuban Giants and the related history of the Negro Leagues and segregation in baseball up through Jackie Robinson's debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
]Further Research
- Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American Baseball by Lawrance D. Hogan (Find in a library)
- Out of the Shadows: African American Baseball from the Cuban Giants to Jackie Robinson by Bill Kirwin (Find in a library)
- Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
- "Black Baseball's Rich Legacy" (NYT 4/27/2008)
- Babylon Historical Society
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We're looking back to the Hurricane of 1938 on this episode. Called "The Long Island Expresss" by some, "The Great New England Hurricane" by others, remembered by all who lived through it.
Today you'll hear five people, recorded back in 2008, recalling their experiences from Brooklyn out to Orient and up into Massachusetts. Children at the time, they all remember that day as if it just happened. Special thanks to Ken Strange, George and Rhea Mitchell, Priscilla Teisch, and John Kalinowski for sharing their memories with us.
If you're on the Island, make sure to check out the new exhibit In Harms Way running at the Long Island Museum. It looks at natural disasters on Long Island, how the region has responded in the past, and how we can plan for the future. [caption id="attachment_2274" align="alignnone" width="644"] Front page of the Mattituck Watchman, Sep 22, 1938. From NYS Historic Newspapers[/caption]
Further Research
- A Wind to Shake the World by Everett S. Allen (find in a library)
- The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 (Nat Weather Service)
- In Harm's Way at the Long Island Museum
- Remembering the Long Island Express (New York Times)
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Sarah Kautz, preservation director of the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities, joins us to discuss their new list of most endangered historic places on Long Island. From the homes of African American and Native American workers to the grand estates of the Gilded Age, each site offers a window into the Island's past and to the complex challenges of historic preservation.
Further Research
- SPLIA's Endangered Historic Places 2017
- Friends of Ceadarmere
- Bethel Christian Avenue Historic District (National Register application)
- Friends of the Fowler House (Facebook)
- Indian Fields (from On This Site project)
- Oakdale Historical Society (Facebook)
- York Hall (Kings Park Heritage Museum)
- York Hall
- Interview with Jason Crowley (2016)
Apologies to all of our listeners for the lag between episodes! It's been a combination of factors and circumstance but new content is in the works. Connie and I will be back soon with interviews with more authors, researchers, and others involved in uncovering and preserving Long Island history.
In the meantime, if you know of anyone who you think has a great Long Island history story to tell, drop us a line at longislandhistoryproject [at] gmail.com. We'd love to hear your suggestions.
Jeremy Dennis is in pursuit of the past, intent on documenting the historical and sacred sites of indigenous people on Long Island. His project, On This Site, restores a map of an old heritage. Jeremy has walked forests, railroad tracks, and backyards to uncover and photograph the often overlooked and forgotten landscape of his Shinnecock ancestors and other Native Americans on Long Island.
On this episode, Jeremy discusses the physical evolution of the sites he has visited as well as his travels through the historical record trying to decode long-forgotten place names and often biased accounts. We also talk about the photography projects that inspired him and what he would like to pursue next.
Further Research:
- On This Site
- Jeremy Dennis Fine Art Photography
- "On This Site: The Indigenous People of Suffolk County" Exhibit July 15th, 1:00 PM Opening Reception, Suffolk County Historical Society
- Running Strong for American Indian Youth
- Related Episodes:
- Tales of the Shinnecock
- A Walk Through Time With The Shinnecock
- An Island of History Under Our Feet
- Photography Projects:
- Vanishing Points, Michael Sherwin
- On This Site, Joel Sternfeld
- The Innocents, Taryn Simon
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Today we talk with Sandi Brewster-walker about her life and her family's history. Not only do the Brewsters have deep ties to North Amityville and the Native American community on Long Island but their story is intertwined with American history on multiple levels.
You'll hear about early slavery on Long Island, letters from John Brown, spying in West Africa for the OSS during World War II, the peculiar fad for Tom Thumb's wedding and more. Sandi is also a practiced genealogist and we go over some of the challenges of researching Native American and African American ancestors.
Beyond family research, her current efforts are directed at establishing a North Amityville Historic District and a Long Island Indigenous People & Research Center. For more details, you can check out her book, The Colored Girl From Long Island, and her columns in the Amityville Record.
Further Research
- The Colored Girl From Long Island
- The Autobiography of Willis Augustus Hodges [PDF]
- Long Island Indigenous People Museum & Research Institute
- North of the Village Green (Amityville Record)
- Bicentenial Moment: Irving W. Underhill
- 71st Annual Shinnecock Indian Powwow
- Who Were the Harlem Hellfighters
- America on the Move: Pullman Porter
- The Wondrous World of Tom Thumb Weddings
If you needed a house built in Sayville around the turn of the last century, Isaac H. Green, Jr. was your man. To attest to this fact, you can still see many of his buildings on Main Street, off Brook St., along Middle Road, down into Oakdale and beyond. He designed churches and carriage houses as well as summer estates and farm buildings. His client list included the Vanderbilts, the Bournes and the Cuttings. His biggest fan, however, is Connie Currie.
On today's episode, Connie describes her over fifty year pursuit of the life and buildings of Isaac H. Green. She started with Meadow Croft, the summer home he designed for John Ellis Roosevelt. Her research odyssey took her to Oakdale, East Hampton and all the way up to Bar Harbor, Maine as she tracked the career of Sayville's favorite son.
Further Research
- Meadow Croft (Bayport Heritage Association)
- A History of St. Anne's Church
- The Architecture of Isaac Henry Green Jr. (National Register)
- Queen Anne. Architectural Styles of America and Europe
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If you were to name the most famous Floyd on Long Island before the outbreak of the Revolution, chances are it would not have been William Floyd. His cousin, Richard Floyd IV, cut a more striking figure: generous, hospitable, refined - with a thriving Mastic estate and powerful connections. Yet today, William has a parkway named after him and his home is part of the National Park system while Richard is erased from history. Wonder why?
Join local historian Matthew Montelione as he relates the history of American Loyalist Richard IV and how the Revolution drove him apart from his family, his neighbors and his nation. Richard's story is part of our special series of episodes looking into Revolutionary War-era Long Island in honor of the final season of AMC's Turn: Washington's Spies.
It turns out that Richard's fate is woven into that of the Culper Spy Ring. Richard's brother Benjamin lived in Seatauket and had some dubious ties to Abraham Woodhull. And not only did Brewster Caleb make it a point to raid Floyd's estate, Benjamin Tallmadge led a party of dragoons right to his doorstep, besieging the neighboring British Fort St. George on the Mastic peninsula. Hear all this and more, including our predictions on what the last scene in Turn will be.
Further Research:
- Richard Floyd IV: Long Island Loyalist
- Mastic Peninsula Historical Society
- Benjamin Tallmadge Historic Trail
- Memoir of Benjamin Tallmadge
- Other Turn episodes:
- Morton Pennypacker: Long Island Spy Hunter
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Can vegetables go extinct? Not if the Long Island Regional Seed Consortium (LIRSC) has anything to say about it. They are dedicated to preserving and propagating those crops that few have even heard about, the types of things that have fallen out of favor or been crowded out of today's agricultural landscape.
Today we interview Steph Gaylor and Cheryl Frey Richards, two of the founders of LIRSC (along with Ken Ettlinger) about their work. It takes dedication, hard work, meticulous historical research and a devotion to craft beer. You'll hear about the success they've had bringing back the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin, the challenges of finding and propagating long lost seeds, and the important role of seed swaps and seed libraries in places like Patchogue and Bayport.
Related Research:
- Long Island Seed Consortium
- Seeds and Suds: Kabul Leek edition
- Seed Savers Exchange
- Chillies to Chocolate: Foods the Americas Gave Us (via WorldCat)
- Seed Libraries of Long Island on Facebook
Frank Knox Morton Pennypacker was many things: author, printer, collector, antiquarian, and...godfather of AMC's hit Long Island historical drama Turn? It was, after all, Pennypacker's diligent research into (and just as diligent promotion of) the Culper Spy Ring in the 1930s that led to a resurgence and new understanding of George Washington's spy ring on Long Island and in New York City. To learn the true depth of the story, however, we need to visit the East Hampton Free Library.
Further Research
- East Hampton Public Library Long Island Collection
- Works by Morton Pennypacker (via WorldCat)
- Raynham Hall Museum
- TURN Washington's Spies (AMC)
- The Culper Spy Ring and Benedict Arnold
- Henry Clinton Papers (U of Michigan)
- "Capt. John Hulbert and his Flag of 1775" (via JSTOR)
- Capt. Kidd's Cloth of Gold
- Freesound
- TV Static (CC 0)
- Revolutionary War Re-enactment (CC 0)
Jack Ellsworth, born Ellsworth Shiebler, won acclaim and a loyal following over a 60-plus year career in broadcasting on stations from WHIM to WALK and WLIM. Just as importantly, he won the respect and support of some of the biggest names of the Big Band era. Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra, and Bing Crosby (to name a few) toasted Jack’s efforts to keep the music and style of the 1930s and 40s alive.
On this episode, Susan and Elissa Shiebler (Jack’s daughter and granddaughter, respectively) relate the story of Jack’s life from his early days in Brooklyn to his work as a Marine war correspondent through his glory days at WALK-FM and WLIM. Fueled by his personal connections to top-name performers and a legendary record collection, Jack’s “Memories in Melody” show enthralled audiences of all ages.
Beyond stories of stars such as Dick Powell and Frank Sinatra, Susan and Elissa also reveal how strongly the legacy of Jack and his wife Dot guides the family today. Grandson Matt Taylor has taken on the mantle of host, along with his own career as a performer, bringing that Big Band sound to a new age. They are now on 103.9 FM (WRCN) and LongIslandNewsRadio.com Sunday mornings 7 – 9 am.
George Munkenbeck, Islip Town Historian, discusses the history of the town from it's possibly piratical origins to its surprising connections to WW I and the Suffragist movement.
On this bonus episode, NASA astrophysicist emeritus Daniel Gezari talks about his research, his studies at Stony Brook, his meeting with Albert Einstein and more.
What's a summer bungalow without a machine shop, a kiln and a working loom in the living room? Add in piles of beach stones waiting to be sculpted, framed pictures of Albert Einstein on the walls and various collections of insects and you're starting to get an idea of life at Zvi and Temima Gezari's home in Rocky Point.
The De La Salle Christian Brothers moved their all-boy Christian military academy to Oakdale in 1926 and graduated their last class in 2001. On today's episode we'll here from alum Denis McGee about two decades in that storied history. Denis graduated in 1974 during the tail end of the Viet Nam War. His father, Arthur McGee, graduated in 1943 and went on to serve in World War II with the 94th Infantry Division.
This interview is part of an oral history project being conducted by the Oakdale Historical Society and the Connetquot Public Library. If you are a an alum of La Salle or worked or taught there and would like to be a part of this project, please contact Diane Haberstroh at the Connetquot Public Library: dhaberst[at]connetquotlibrary.org.
Mark Rothenberg oversees the Celia M. Hastings Local History Room at Patchogue Medford Library. On this episode he relates the story of the Queen City of the South Shore, from mill town to resort destination. Along the way we encounter members of the Culper Spy Ring, Confederate sympathizers and proponents of the bicycle-driven monorail.
When an athletic, thrill-seeking millionaire builds a mansion hideaway on the outskirts of the city, stocking it with a technologically advanced fleet of cars, boats and airplanes along with trophies of his exploits, there's a good chance he's either Batman or a Vanderbilt. Meet William K. Vanderbilt II circa 1910.
Just after the turn of the last century, William (or Willie K.) was heir to the Vanderbilt fortune and all the pressures that went with it. Reeling from a public relations disaster in Lake Success, he diverted his attention to Centerport and created Eagle's Nest, an idyllic private retreat with space for a public museum housing his collection of marine specimens and cultural artifacts.
On today's episode we speak with Stephanie Gress, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum, the institution formed when Vanderbilt willed his estate be perpetuated as a museum.
Our discussion uncovers Willie K.'s scientific pursuits, his connections to the American Museum of Natural History, golfing with Sam Snead and the probabilities of Vanderbilts in space. We also talk about the challenges of preserving such a unique museum collection and how generations of school kids on Long Island have thrilled to the only Egyptian mummy between Brooklyn and Great Britain.
Rob Boehm, past president of the Puppet Guild of Long Island, walks us through the world of puppetry and puppet theater since the 1950s, including his early interests and later experiences as a puppeteer. Both he and our own Connie Currie studied with Carol Fijan, the Great Neck-based master puppeteer who greatly influenced the development of puppet theater. They discuss Carol's teachings and writings, her early days with the WPA and the enduring challenges of bringing puppets to life.
Bill Colson was a stand-out basketball player from Sayville High School ('47). In the Korean War he served as an Air Force cryptographer until, stricken by polio, he returned to the States paralyzed from the waist down. That's where his story begins.
Women in most states could still not vote at the turn of the last century. The suffrage movement was stalled and icons such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were dead. So what turned things around? How did the movement revitalize itself to the point that, by 1920, the 19th Amendment was passed and women's suffrage was the law of the land? Part of the answer lies with two women from Long Island.
Genealogist Rhoda Miller and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Long Island recently published Jewish Community of Long Island from Arcadia Press. The book tracks the development of Jewish communities across Long Island from the late 19th century through the 1970s.
Throughout the book Rhoda not only documents the rise of specific communities but also uncovers many personal stories. On this episode you'll hear about aviation pioneer Chalres A. Levine, Rabbi Lehrer and his work with Jewish patients in Long Island's state hospitals and the threatening presence of the Ku Klux Klan on the Island along with the German American Bund's Camp Siegfried in Yaphank.
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George Davies’ younger days would be the envy of any boy. During the Great Depression in Oakdale, he and his brothers had the run of Pepperidge Hall, a giant 19th-century mansion in walking distance of a swimming hole and the Great South Bay. Plus they had a pet duck. On this episode you’ll hear excerpts […]
What better way to celebrate National Preservation Month than by interviewing Jason Crowley, Preservation Director of the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquties (SPLIA)? Jason comes to Long Island by way of Vermont, Charleston, Columbia University and years of work on the front lines of preservation. You’ll hear his take on the unique […]
National Poetry Month is almost over but we have time for one more power ballad. This time, we’re looking over the body of work of Paul Bailey. Bailey was a newspaperman from Amityville (founder of the Amityville Sun) as well as the publisher of the Long Island Forum. His dedication to Long Island history ran deep as he was also president of the Suffolk County Historical Society and Suffolk County Historian. He wrote a syndicated column on Long Island history and was a sought-after public speaker on the topic.
So it’s no surprise that his posthumous book of poetry, Treading Clams (1965) is filled with light verse on all aspects of Long Island. Today we read through excerpts of three of the poems, “The Midnight Rides of Austin Roe,” “Shoes from the Sea,” and “When Prohibition Came.”
Born in 1885, Bailey actually spent some time out west before settling down to his newspaper career. He worked on cattle ranches and possibly in the movies – enough experience, at least, to fuel a number of Western stories that he wrote for pulps like Argosy later on. He also struck up a friendship at home with nearby neighbors Will Rogers and Fred Stone. Stone was an actor and comedian and the first person to play the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz (in the 1902 Broadway version).
Our reader today is Dr. Josh Gidding, Professor of English at Dowling College. Thanks, Josh! And we hope you’ve enjoyed our spelunking through poetry history. Make sure you check out our other Long Island Power Ballads and leave a comment on what you thought.
Further Research
- Treading Clams by Paul Bailey (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Long Island Forum index (Patchogue Medford Library)
- Roe Tavern (Three Village Historical Society)
- The Truth Behind the Spies: Decoding AMC’s Turn
- Montauk Lighthouse
- Rum Runners (from Long Island Traditions)
- Amityville Historical Society
- All Long Island Power Ballad episodes
Back when men were men and railroads were railroads, Charles M. Murphy challenged a locomotive and lived to tell the tale. He rode behind a Long Island Railroad locomotive in 1899 and clocked a mile in under 58 seconds, earning him the immortal nickname Mile-a-Minute Murphy.
On today’s episode we look back at Murphy’s accomplishment through the eyes of Si Tannhauser. Who was Si Tannhauser, you ask? Only the “poet laureate of Long Island” circa 1934. That’s when he published his ode to Murphy in the Leader Observer. Si was a ticket agent for the Long Island Railroad by day, poet by night.
The lives of both men brim with anecdote and pathos. Tannhauser survived the San Francisco earthquake as well as hardscrabble times that left him near blind, lame and half-deaf. Murphy went on to Vaudeville and the New York City Police department where, among other things, he wrestled down a runaway horse.
This episode is part of our celebration of National Poetry month and the reader of this particular Long Island power ballad is Rick Jackofsky of the Home Grown String Band. Many thanks, Rick! And check out our past ballads for more poetry/history mashups.
Further Research
- Rhymes of the Sunrise Trail by Si Tannhauser (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Songs of Horticulture by Si Tannhauser (find in a library via WorldCat)
- “Mile-a-Minute Murphy,” Sports Illustrated, Sept. 5, 1955
- Long Island Railroad History
- San Francisco Earthquake, 1906
- Homegrown String Band
Audio Credits
- Steam Whistle by Bidone CC 0 License
- Music: Razzle Dazzle
- Crowd cheers by jessepash CC 0 License
- Peak rails by konakaboom CC Attribution-NonCommercial License
- Bicycle by DamianMinnie CC Attribution-NonCommercial License
- Heavy breathing by Under7dude CC 0 License
- Grunts by mattgarkusha CC 0 License
- Wheezing by thedapperdan CC 0 License
- Man saying OMG by dcaval1@towson.edu CC Sampling Plus License
- Ooh females by AudioRichter CC Attribution License
We continue our celebration of National Poetry Month with our second Long Island power ballad from the past. This time out we are looking at “A Babylonish Ditty” by Frederick Swartwout Cozzens (writing as Richard Haywarde).
Few will remember New York wine merchant-turned poet Cozzens and his heyday as a humor writer in the mid 1800s (although you should try his Sparrowgrass Papers, something of a 19th-century prototype for the sticom Green Acres.) Fewer still will remember the Knickerbocker, the magazine where he cut his teeth. But that’s where, in 1850, he first published “A Babylonish Ditty,” a quick-trotting ode to a long gone summer romance.
Why Babylon? Well, the south shore of Long Island (“the merry old south side”) had a reputation that drew men out from New York City. Mostly they were merchants and lawyers, amateur sportsmen drawn to the abundant fish and game along the Great South Bay. They came by rail and stage coach and after a long day traipsing through the great outdoors, they retired to one of the many inns and taverns strung along the South Country Road (today’s Montauk Highway).
Listen to Cozzens relive those hazy summer days and wonder to yourself how the “fickle” object of his affection viewed the whole affair. Many thanks to our guest reader, Steve Birkeland.
Further Research
- “Babylonish Ditty” Kinckerbocker Magazine, December 1850. (via Hathi Trust)
- Prismatics by Richard Haywarde, 1853
- The Sparrowgrass Papers, 1856
- Village of Babylon Historical and Preservation Society
Audio Credits
- Clock by pogotron CC Sampling Plus License
- Anita
- Female giggle by ch0cchi CC Attribution License 3.0
- Stream by gluckose CC 0 License
- Cheers by Corsica_S CC Attribution License 3.0
- Drinking glasses by EpicWizard CC 0 License
- Fireworks by noah0189 CC 0 License
- Crowd Ooohs by noah0189 CC 0 License
- Breeze by keweldog CC 0 License
- Footsteps by mentalsanityoff CC 0 License
- Bees by Benboncan CC Attribution License 3.0
- Pain by 11linda CC Attribution License 3.0
- Dog barking by jace CC 0 License
- Dog barks by juan-merie-venter CC Attribution Noncommercial
- Female startled surprise by AudioRichter CC Attribution License 3.0
- Male laugh by ch0cchi CC Attribution License 3.0
- Screams and pain by thanvannispen CC Attribution License 3.0
- Running by Benboncan CC Attribution License 3.0
- Vocal (Kiss) by Adam_N CC 0 License
- Slap by talis1942 CC Attribution License 3.0
- Summer sounds by jymdavis CC 0 License
- Writing by moai15 CC 0 License
- Paddle in rowboat by jakobthiesen CC Attribution License 3.0
- Storm by crooner CC Attribution Noncommercial
- Oh disappointed by esperar CC 0 License
- Splash by petenice CC 0 License
- High heels on wooden floor by avakas CC Attribution License 3.0
- Door slams by bennstir CC Attribution License 3.0
- Heavy surf by odilonmarcenaro CC 0 License
- Raven by bidone CC 0 License
- Grandfather clock by ollyoldhoff CC 0 License
It’s National Poetry Month and we’re celebrating with a series of poetry/history mashups that we like to call Long Island Power Ballads. We’re dusting off some deserving yet obscure poems (and poets) dealing with Long Island history and giving them another look. Over the next few weeks you’ll hear stories of broken hearts, tragic deaths, and the indomitable human spirit. But when we say obscure, we mean obscure. If you’re looking for Walt Whitman, seek ye elsewhere.
Today’s episode deals with “The Death of Woodhull: An American Ballad” which tells one version of the death of Nathaniel Woodhull, American patriot, Brigadier General and brother-in-law of William Floyd. Learn the history of the man and the story of the legend that sprung up around his demise. His connection to AMC’s Turn is also explained.
Hear our fearless poetry reenactors bring this ballad back to life amid fanfare, galloping horses and flashing blades. Many thanks to Anne McCaffrey, Frances Schauss and Kristine Hanson.
Audio Credits
- Let Me Like a Soldier Fall
- Marching Snare from lewk CC Non-Commercial Attribution License 3.0
- Horses from vincentmalstaf CC 0 License
- Reenactment from alienistcog CC 0 License
- Cannon from man CC Attribution License 3.0
- Female breathing from Kuroseishin CC 0 License
- Horse neigh from dobroide CC Attribution License 3.0
- Sword Battle from freefire66 CC 0 License
- El Miserere
- Breathing from lizanejordaan, CC Non-Commercial Attribution License 3.0
- Stabbing Watermelon from the shaggyfreak, CC Non-Commercial Attribution License 3.0
- Passing Review
Further Research
- “Death of Woodhull: An American Ballad” from The Mirror, 1823
- Account of Woodhull’s death from Henry Onderdonk’s 1846 Documents and Letters Intended to Illustrate the Revolutionary Incidents of Queens County.
- Turn: Washington’s Spies on AMC
- Digital Public Library of America resources
- Freesound.org
- UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive
- National Poetry Month
Folklorists would make good podcasters. They are used to finding interesting people and getting them to tell good stories. Take Nancy Solomon for example. As the executive director of Long Island Traditions, she has spent years collecting and studying the stories of baymen, offshore fishermen, boat builders and the like. Today we’ll talk to her about a number of those stories revolving around the subject of weather lore.
We discuss how generations of fishermen have scanned the skies and shores for signs of encroaching weather. You’ll hear of hurricanes opening (and closing) inlets along Fire Island, shark sightings, narrow escapes and the lasting impact of Superstorm Sandy.
Built up over years and passed down through generations, the weather lore of Long Island fishermen can tell us much about how things have changed and how to best work with nature.
And thanks to Debra Anwar Riad for adding her voice to our intro!
Further Research
- Long Island Traditions
- Long Island Traditions on YouTube
- Nancy Solomon interview (2007)
- “The ‘New Cut’ at Old Inlet”
- Hurricane Sandy (via the National Weather Service)
- Long Island Commercial Fishing Association
- The Folklore Society
We return to our conversation with investigative journalist Karl Grossman, picking up his career after the memorable fight against the Fire Island road in the 1960s. For a journalist, what story could top that?
Cut to: Shoreham Nuclear Power Station #1. It’s the 1970s and the Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO) is building the first of up to eleven proposed nuclear power plants, poised to turn Long Island into a “nuclear park.” After working at the Long Island Press until its demise in 1977, Karl covers the LILCO story through local papers like the Long Island Advance, the Suffolk County News, the Southampton Press and the East Hampton Star.
In addition to Karl, the story is also being followed by Murray Barbash and Irving Like. Veterans of the Fire Island fight, Irv and Murray help form the Citizens Committee to Replace LILCO. Karl relates the various tactics they and others used to help thwart the completion of the Shoreham plant and bring about passage of the Long Island Power Act and the formation of the Long Island Power Authority.
Karl also shares his thoughts on the current state of journalism, electronic media, and what has and hasn’t changed on Long Island.
Further Research
- Karl Grossman
- LIPolitics.com
- Power Crazy by Karl Grossman (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Brookhaven National Lab: Our History
- Our Story: How EDF Got Started
- Beyond News by Mitchell Stephens (find in a library via WorldCat)
- NYS Historic Newspapers
It’s 1962 and a Nor’easter has just torn through Long Island. In its wake is another storm, Long Island Parks Commissioner Robert Moses with his plan to build a road down the middle of Fire Island. It will stabilize the beach, he says. It will provide beauty and ease to the motorist, he says.
But local builder Murray Barbash notices that the road will run right through his new development of Dunewood, flattening it and pretty much anything else in its path (including Sunken Forest). Murray gets together with his brother-in-law Irving Like and the rest, if you don’t know already, is history.
Murray’s daughters Cathy and Susan knew the story but over the course of the last year they set about documenting that history. Sifting through a number of local and regional archives (including Dowling’s) they pieced together the saga of the road-that-never-was. On this episode you’ll hear from Cathy and Susan and their mother Lillian about how an unlikely coalition of Long Island “vigilantes” outwitted and outlasted the great Robert Moses.
You can soon see Cathy’s and Susan’s research for yourself when the exhibit they created is permanently installed with Seatuck at the Suffolk County Environmental Center in Islip. For now, use the handy scorecard below to keep track of who’s who in this gripping story of intrigue and power set against the natural beauty of Fire Island.
Many thanks to the Barbash family for sharing their time, memories and photos.
Scorecard for this Episode
The Long Island “Vigilantes”
- Murray Barbash: builder with an eye for beauty, developer of Dunewood
- Lillian Barbash: his wife
- Irving Like: indomitable lawyer and Murray’s brother-in-law
- Paul Townsend: “The Wizard,” publisher of the Long Island Business News
- Robert Cushman Murphy: the tallest ornithologist in the world
The State
- Robert Moses: New York’s [insert your own adjective] Master Builder
- Nelson Rockefeller: the not-to-be-bullied Governor of New York
- Laurance Rockefeller: Nelson’s brother and noted conservationist
Long Island’s Legislators
- Stuyvesant Wainwright: Congressman from New York’s 1st District, proposed a Fire Island National Seashore when no one was looking
- Otis Pike: wins Wainwright’s seat with Moses’ backing, becomes reluctant sponsor of the Fire Island National Seashore bill
The Feds
- Stewart Udall – Secretary of the Interior, consummate insider and good guy
- President John F. Kennedy: wanted National Parks in the East, dammit
The Media
- Charles Collingwood: Saltaire resident and CBS newsman
- Wolcott Gibbs: writer for the New Yorker and Fire Island playwright
- Teddy White: Fair Harbor resident and chronicler of presidents
- Julius Monk: New York cabaret impresario whom we have to thank for the classic “Slow Down Moses”
Further Research
- Season in the Sun by Wolcott Gibbs (from the Playbill Vault)
- A Marvelous Order: An Opera About Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs
- Robert Moses: Master Builder of New York City (find in a library via WorldCat)
- “The Fire on New York’s Famous Island” (Sports Illustrated)
- Robert Moses Papers at the New York Public Library
- Rockefeller Archive Center
- Stewart Udall Oral History at the JFK Library
- Paul Townsend Collection at Dowling College
- Robert Cushman Murphy Collection at Stony Brook University
- The Films of Ron Howard (just in case)
Karl Grossman has been an investigative reporter on Long Island since the early 1960s. Barely in his twenties, he cut his journalistic teeth at the Babylon Town Leader taking on one of the most powerful men in New York State: Robert Moses.
Karl covered the developing story of Moses’ plan to build a highway down the middle of Fire Island. Although the plan horrified local residents, many on the Island and in the press supported it. Through the work of Karl and papers like the Suffolk County News and the Long Island Business News and most importantly people like Murray Barbash, Irving Like and Robert Cuhsman Murphy, the plan was washed away. In its place we have the Fire Island National Seashore.
Today is part 1 of our interview with Karl on his early career, the power of the press, and how he was almost an alum of Dowling College (then known as Adelphi Suffolk College). You’ll hear about his further battles in part 2 but first in two weeks we’ll revisit the Moses fight from the perspective of the Barbash family. Stay tuned!
Further Research
- Karl Grossman
- Works by Karl Grossman
- Related Books
- Fire Island National Seashore
- Digital Public Library of America resources
- Related podcasts:
- Mike Jahn, The New York Times and Rock & Roll
- Leroy Douglas and the Class of ’64
St. David AME Zion Church in Eastville. Photo courtesy of the Eastville Community Historical Society.
Eastville endures. Through the rise and fall of the whaling industry, over the long slow death of slavery, past the rising tide of development on the East End of Long Island. From the early 19th-century this small collection of streets and houses east of Sag Harbor, anchored around the St. David AME Zion Church, has retained its character as a place that a vibrant mix of African Americans, Native Americans, and European immigrants called home.
On this episode of the Project, we speak with Dr. Georgette Grier-Key, Executive Director and Curator of the Eastville Community Historical Society. She relates the history of the area, from the early 1830s into the late 20th century when the Society was founded.
Portrait of an Eastville resident. Photo courtesy of the Eastville Community Historical Society.
You’ll hear about the prominence of Native Americans and African Americans in the whaling industry as well as the importance of Sag Harbor as the first port of entry in New York. Among the people we discuss are Nathan Cuffee, a Montaukett member of the community who co-wrote the novel Lords of the Soil in 1905, depicting life on the east end of Long Island. Georgette also tells the surprising story of Pyrrhus Concer from nearby Southampton, an African American who, on a whaling voyage in 1845, became one of the first Americans to visit Japan.
We also discuss the challenges of documenting and preserving the histories of marginalized people. How do you prove, for example, that one of the trapdoors in the Church was used to hide escaping slaves on the Underground Railroad? How do you protect an unassuming house that is actually made out of wood from recovered 19th century shipwrecks and may contain generations of important stories?
Courtesy of the Eastville Historical Society
Sometimes you get lucky and discover a trove of tintype portraits nailed face-down into the floor of a cottage. Sometimes you fail, and structures get razed despite what they might be able to tell us about the past. Sometimes the results are mixed. Pyrrhus Concer’s house was demolished but only after significant parts had been salvaged.
You’ll hear Georgette talk about these cases and related issues along with the importance of understanding and enforcing the codes that should be helping inform decisions around such properties. You’ll also hear about ongoing projects to document African American burial sites throughout Long Island.
And if you enjoy these episodes, make sure to follow this site via email or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Leave us a comment and let us know what aspects of Long Island history you’d like to hear discussed.
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/GrierKey.mp3 Stream in the player above or download audio.
Further Research
- Eastville Community Historical Society
- Sag Harbor Whaling Museum
- Sylvester Manor
- Lords of the Soil by Nathan Cuffee (via Google Books)
- Eastville Tintypes from Floor to Wall (East Hampton Star)
- Burial Database Project of Enslaved African Americans
- Slavery and Salvation: Long Island’s Underground Railroad (Long Island Press)
- Slavery in New York (New York Historical Society)
Shinnecock (2013). Photo courtesy of Thom Hoffman
When something piques Thom Hoffman’s interest, he starts asking questions. Then he tries to work out the answers through film. The result has been an eclectic mix of documentaries (three to date) that share some common traits: his desire to educate and his love of Long Island history.
Brother, Can You Spare a Dollar? (2012).Photo courtesy of Thom Hoffman
On today’s interview you’ll hear how Thom got his start working with Ray Adell on the “About Long Island” radio series and then expanded into documentaries. His first film featured the story of Brooklyn doo-wop stalwart Lenny Cocco and the Chimes. Next came his comparison of the Great Depression and the Great Recession. His latest, Shinnecock, explores the long history of the Shinnecock Nation in Southampton.
Still in the Mood for Love (2010). Photo courtesy of Thom Hoffman
We also ask Thom about the challenges of producing and distributing documentaries on Long Island. How do you get them to a wider audience? How do you get the quality of production needed? His answers echo many of the things we’ve heard in our discussions with others involved in documentary filmmaking on Long Island.
On that note, if you’re interested in screening any of his movies or helping find a home for the “About Long Island” archive, you can contact Thom at hof565 [at] optonline.net
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/HoffmanThom.mp3 Stream in the player above or download audio.
Further Research
- Thom Hoffman
- Trailers:
Shinnecock (2013)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dollar? (2012)
Still in the Mood for Love (2010)
- Trailers:
- About Long Island radio spots from Ray Adell Media
- Lenny Cocco and the Chimes
- Cinema Arts Centre, Huntington
- Resources for Filmmakers (from POV on PBS)
Suffolk County Historian Peter Fox Cohalan is back in session for part two of our interview. This week we get deeper into the history of Islip, traveling all the way from the bottom of the Bay (and who really owned it) back to Islip, England and the ancestral home of the Nicoll family.
We also get Peter Fox’s insight into historic preservation at the local and regional levels as well as the unique situations that can arise on Long Island.
Finally, we’ll hear about the work of the Robert D.L. Gardiner Foundation. As a board member, Peter Fox is involved in helping the Foundation support the study and preservation of New York history with a focus on Islip and Suffolk County.
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/PeterFoxCohalan2.mp3 Stream in the player above or download audio.
Further Research
- Peter Fox Cohalan Part I
- Robert D.L. Gardiner Foundation
- Islip Parish, Northamptonshire
- New York State Historic Preservation Office
Peter Fox Cohalan was named Suffolk County Historian in 2012 but in many ways he’s been preparing for the role his whole life. In fact, the Cohalans and history go way back. The first Cohalan in America arrived with Lafayette during the Revolution. One branch of the family led to a Grand Sachem of Tammany Hall, another to the first Catholic priest on Long Island. In his own storied career, Peter Fox has been Islip Town Supervisor, Suffolk County Executive, and State Supreme Court Judge (one of five Cohalans -including his father- to reach that position.)
With the historian’s eye for detail and the Irishman’s gift for storytelling, Peter Fox can discuss the Sayville of his youth as easily as the quarrels of the early Federalists. On this episode of the Project he recounts the Sayville of the 1930s and ’40s along with his father’s time as coach at the La Salle Military Academy in Oakdale. We’ll also hear about preservation efforts he spearheaded (like the Islip Grange in Sayville) as well as his family’s connections to the unforgettable Robert David Lion Gardiner.
Join us next week for Part 2.
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/PeterFoxCohalan1.mp3 Stream in the player above or download audio.
Further Research
- Sayville Historical Society
- Sayville Public Library Historic Images
- Robert D.L. Gardiner Foundation
- Islip Grange
- South Shore Nature Center
Welcome back to our Native American Heritage Month discussion!
From Whaling and Fishing by Charles Nordhoff, 1895.
Today we bring you the rest of our conversation with members of the Shinnecock Nation Cultural Center & Museum in Southampton, Long Island. This time out we’ll hear from director and curator David Bunn Martine. David relates how he got interested in Shinnecock history and by telling his family’s story he uncovers much of the scope and sweep of the Native American experience.
Geronimo. Illustrated American, Aug 16, 1890
By the end of the episode you’ll hear about Samson Occum, long whaling voyages, the Shinnecock connection to Teddy Roosevelt, Geronimo, the Boarding School Period and more. We also talk about the difference between Plains and Woodlands people and the enduring danger of stereotypes.
Thanks also to Eileen Dugan, Education Coordinator at the Museum, for arranging these interviews.
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/Shinnecock2.mp3 Stream in the player above or download audio.
Further Research
- David Martine
- The Shinnecock Nation on Facebook
- Shinnecock Indian Nation
- Shinnecock interview part I
- The Indian Mariners Project
- The Occum Circle
- American Indian Artists, Inc.
- Native American Heritage Month
David Martine, Cholena Smith, Chris Kretz, Connie Currie (l to r)
To honor Native American Heritage month here at the Project, we’ve got two interviews lined up regarding the Shinnecock Nation in Southanmpton. Connie and I sat down with David Bunn Martine (Director and Curator) and Cholena Smith (Education and Program Manager) from the Shinnecock Nation Cultural Center & Museum to discuss the history of the tribe and the operations of the Museum. Located at 100 Montauk Highway in Southampton, this is the only Native American-owned and -operated museum on Long Island.
Today in Part 1 you’ll hear about the origins and development of the Museum including their efforts to propagate the Shinnecock language. We also discuss the Shinnecock Powwow, the persistent challenge of stereotypes and, as a bonus, I finally get to use my knowledge of popular 19th-century German fiction writers.
Thanks also to Eileen Dugan, Education Coordinator at the Museum, for arranging these interviews.
Stay tuned for Part 2 in two weeks in which David will tell us more about Shinnecock history and the Native American experience in this country.
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/Shinnecock1.mp3 Stream in the player above or download audio.
Further Research
- The Shinnecock Nation on Facebook
- Native American Heritage Month
- Mashantucket Pequot Museum
- Native American Pow Wows
- Algonquian Language Family
- Wild West Germany (the life of Karl May via the New Yorker)
- Interview with Dr. Gaynell Stone on Long Island archaeology and Native Americans
“Showing the Inventor in the Effulgent Glory of Myriad Tongues of Electric Flame After He Has Saturated Himself with Electricity.” New York World, July 22, 1894.
Nikola Tesla was a bona fide Gilded Age celebrity, pulling front page headlines in the New York press and attracting the rich and famous to his late night laboratory demonstrations. You were nobody until Tesla shot you through with electricity.
And now Tesla’s time has come again. We conclude our special Tesla Month here at the Long island History Project talking to filmmaker Joe Sikorski about his documentary Tower to the People: Tesla’s Dream at Wardenclyffe Continues. Co-written with Michael Calomino, Tower to the People tells the story of Tesla and the successful fight to save his Wardenclyffe lab.
Bringing Tesla’s story to the screen has been a labor of love of Joe’s for some time and you’ll hear about his original dream: the full-length feature film Fragments from Olympus. We discuss the challenges of documentary film making and reveal more of Tesla’s fascinating life and why it lends itself so perfectly to film.
Are you in Los Angeles October 23-29th? Catch a special screening of Tower to the People at the Crest Theatre, 1262 Westwood Blvd. And tell them the Long Island History Project sent you!
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/JoeSikorski.mp3 Stream in the player above or download audio.
Further Research
- Tower to the People documentary trailer
- Fragments from Olympus feature film
- Teslasdream.com (for news and current showings)
- Crest Theatre on Facebook
- Interview with Jane Alcorn of the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe (Part 1 and Part 2)
- Selected Tesla flimography (from IMDB)
- Tesla (2016)
- Pictures of Infinity (2015)
- Tesla’s Engine (2014)
- The Prestige (2006)
Click to view slideshow.
Corner of the Wardenclyffe site. Photo by Chris Kretz.
The historic site you want to preserve is up for sale for $1.3 million dollars. The good news: New York State will give you $850,000. The bad news: you have to raise the same amount. And there are other interested buyers. And the clock is ticking.
That’s the position The Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe (TSCW) found themselves in by the summer of 2012. But don’t worry, there’s a happy ending. In this second of a two-part interview, Jane Alcorn (TSCW president) explains how they turned things around. The secret ingredient: enlist the aide of Matthew Inman, creator of the website The Oatmeal.
In the whirlwind of events that followed, offers of help poured in and TSCW was able to meet all their goals. And then the hard work began. Jane recounts it all and lays out future plans for the site and for Nikola Tesla’s legacy of scientific innovation. Remember to check the TSCW website for ways that you can get involved.
And stay tuned as our Tesla month continues. Next week on the podcast we interview filmmaker Joe Sikorski on his Tesla/Wardenclyffe documentary Tower to the People.
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/JaneAlcorn2.mp3 Stream in the player above or download audio.
Further Research:
- The Oatmeal
- Why Tesla Was the Greatest Geek Who Ever Lived
- Jane Alcorn Interview Part 1
- Wading River Branch of the LIRR (via Art Huneke’s LIRR History site)
- Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Click to view slideshow.
“Nikola Tesla, Dreamer” From The World To-Day, 1901.
Jane Alcorn was hooked on science from an early age but it was not until a friend clued her in to the Wizard of Electricity that she became hooked on Nikola Tesla. A major scientific player at the turn of the last century, Tesla established a lab at Wardenclyffe in Shoreham, Long Island to pursue his innovative experiments in electricity, radio, and broadcast energy.
Drawing inspiration from his story, Jane and a dedicated group founded The Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe. And eventually, they realized the dream of securing Tesla’s lab and have begun to restore it.
In the first of a two-part interview, Jane describes that journey and provides background on what made Tesla so inspiring. You’ll hear stories of his inventions and his interactions with the people of Shoreham as well as his connections to people like Mark Twain, Stanford White and George Westinghouse.
Look for part 2 next week when we discuss the long and surprising road to purchasing the Wardenclyffe site.
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/JaneAlcorn1.mp3 Stream in the player above or download audio.
Further Research:
- Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe
- Nikola Tesla Museum, Belgrade
- Books on Tesla (via WorldCat)
- Tesla: Master of Lightning (PBS)
- The Electric Rise and Fall of Nikola Tesla (Marco Tempest Ted Talk)
Longtime radio broadcaster Ray Adell of Ray Adell Media, WGSM, WBAB and more. Photo by Tom Hoffman.
Ray Adell is a radio man, from his early days broadcasting down in Virginia to his arrival at WGSM (World’s Greatest Suburban Market!) in Huntington in the early 1950s. But perhaps you’ll remember him best as the voice (and mind) behind “About Long Island,” the long-running radio spot sponsored by the Grumman Corporation. For over twenty years Ray and his staff at Adell Media served up snippets of Long Island history in morning drive time to educate and entertain.
In this interview Ray looks back at the people he’s met (Jack Ellsworth and Edmund Hillary to name just two), stations he’s worked at (WCAP, WEST, WKBS, WGSM and WBAB to name just five), and answers the question: is radio dead?
Leave a comment if you have memories of Ray or any of the old Long Island stations. And special thanks to Thom Hoffman for arranging this interview.
BONUS: The Long Island History Project is now listed in iTunes! If you like what you hear, please leave a review or rate us. If you’re not sure how, read this first.
Many great interviews ahead so keep listening! You can bookmark us, use the “follow” button to get email updates, or subscribe in iTunes or your podcast reader of choice.
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/RayAdell.mp3 Stream in the player above or download audio.
Further Research
- More samples of “About Long Island”
- Ray Adell Media
- Long Island Radio History
- Weyman “Sandy” Jones (former Grumman VP of Public Affairs)
- Jack Elsworth Memories in Melody on Facebook
- The Airwaves of New York: Illustrated Histories of 156 AM Stations in the Metropolitan Area, 1921-1996 (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Then We Set His Hair on Fire by Phil Dusenberry (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Huntington History (blog of Huntington Town Historian Robert C. Hughes)
Sylvester Manor from Historical Papers on Shelter Island and Its Presbyterian Church, with Genealogical Tables. N.Y, 1899
We’re back for part II of our interview with Dr. Gaynell Stone, executive director of the Suffolk County Archaeological Association and now accomplished filmmaker. Her connection to Stephen Mrozowski’s work at Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island led to her first film, The Sugar Connection: Holland, Barbados, Shelter Island in 2012.
The story of manors on Long Island is a tale that grows in the telling, however, so Dr. Stone has mapped out an ambitious series of documentaries encompassing Gardiner’s Island, Eaton’s Neck, the Manor of St. George and more.
Today you’ll get a glimpse of the stories that were uncovered: alchemists on Fisher’s Island, what lies buried on Plum Island, the forgotten patriot John Sloss Hobart, and pirates sailing out of the Connetquot River. You’ll also hear about the struggles to get these documentaries off the ground and seen by the public.
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/GaynellStone2.mp3 Stream in the player above or download audio.
Further Research
- Sylvester Manor Educational Farm
- The Archaeology of Sylvester Manor
- The Manor: Three Centuries at a Slave Plantation on Long Island (find in a library via WorldCat)
- Dr. Gaynell Stone interview Part I
Dr. Gaynell Stone was instrumental in the creation of Readings in Long Island Archaeology and Ethnohistory, the series of reference books that, starting in the 1970s, pulled together the foundational sources and background information on archaeology in the region.
In the first part of this two-part interview, Dr. Stone walks us through the fascinating history of Long Island archaeology, uncovering along the way: the myth of the 13 Indian tribes, the importance of Thomas Jefferson, the gravestones of Southampton, and much more. Look for part 2 in two weeks when we discuss the Manors of Long Island!
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/GaynellStone1.mp3 Stream in the player above or download audio.
Further Research:
- Readings in Long Island Archaeology and Ethnohistory (Click on a title to find in a library via WorldCat)
- Suffolk County Archaeological Association
- Silas Wood on the original Long Island “tribes” (via Google Books)
- Allison Mann describes Freetown [East Hampton]
- Bert Seides and the Terry Ketcham Inn
James Foote (l. Photo courtesy of James and Joni Foote). President Roosevelt (r. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress)
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/JamesFoote.mp3 Stream in the player above or download audio.
James Foote has some pretty big shoes to fill but he’s been pulling it off effortlessly for decades. Starting with a close resemblance to the 26th President of the United States and adding a passion for research, James has built a career as one of the most sought-after Theodore Roosevelt re-enactors in the country. He’s portrayed Teddy at corporate events, on river boats, at the White House, and most fittingly, at the christening of the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
In this interview with Connie Currie and Chris Kretz, you’ll hear how James approaches his role, the research he’s undertaken, and how he’s learned to handle everything from hecklers to heart attacks. We also discuss Theodore Roosevelt’s life, his connections to Long Island, and his enduring place in the American memory. Running time 47:43.
And mark your calendars! On Sunday, July 12th, 2015, Sagamore Hill will reopen to the public after a major three-year renovation project. James Foote will be part of the celebration at “the Summer White House” in Oyster Bay.
**Further Research:**
- The Theodore Roosevelt Association
- Sagamore Hill
- The USS Theodore Roosevelt
- Meadow Croft Estate of John Ellis Roosevelt
- The Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace
Bob Lundquist – Part I
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/BobLundquist1.mp3
Download audio
Bob Lundquist – Part II
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/BobLundquist2.mp3
Download audio
Robert Lundquist was station engineer at the vast RCA transmitting station at Rocky Point known the world over as Radio Central. In this two-part interview he provides a crash course in the history, development, and technology of radio. You’ll also hear about the history of RCA, David Sarnoff, Guglielmo Marconi, and the role of Sputnik in the demise of Radio Central.
Among the memories Bob shares are the the day in 1978 when Governor Hugh Carey accepted the property (along with the RCA station in Riverhead) on behalf of New York State, along with the time he had to decide the fate of Marconi’s shack, an important relic of Long Island’s radio history.
Further Research:
- Rocky Point Historical Society
- Radio Central Amateur Radio Club
- The World’s Greatest Radio Station
- More on Marconi’s Shack
- Rocky Point Pine Barrens State Forest
- Long Island Radio & TV Historical Society
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/BevTyler.mp3 Stream in the player above or download audio.
Historian Bev Tyler of the Three Village Historical Society
Bev Tyler, historian with the Three Village Historical Society, walks us through the true story of the Culper Spy Ring that operated out of Setauket and Manhattan during the Revolutionary War. Made up of a small tight-knit group of friends and relatives, the Ring provided valuable information on British activities that helped George Washington outmaneuver and out-spy a much more powerful enemy. All of this was conducted in occupied territory, a Long Island beset by British troops with no love for the population they were meant to protect and raiders from the Sound who preyed on Loyalist and Patriot alike. We also discuss the AMC series Turn which depicts a fictionalized version of the Ring. Find out where the story strays from the history and which facts and characters stay true to the historical record. From Abraham Woodhull to Robert Townsend, Anna Strong, and Caleb Brewster, find out what they were really like and their fate after the war. Turn starts its second season in the spring of 2015.
North Shore of Long Island, 1780. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division
Further Research:
- The Three Village Historical Society
- Turn: Washington’s Spies on AMC
- It Happened in Setauket…(from the Emma S. Clark Library)
- Raynham Hall Museum
- George Washington Letters at Stony Brook University Special Collections.
- George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress
- Washington’s Spies: The Story of America’s First Spy Ring by Alexander Rose
- Upon Secrecy by Selene Castrovilla, Jeff Crosby, and Shelley Jackson
- Fairfield Historical Society
- Page 288 of Benjamin F. Thompson’s History of Long Island (1839)
- Morton Pennypacker Long Island Collection at the East Hampton Public Library
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/GeneHorton.mp3 Stream in the player above or download audio.
Gene Horton and friend.
“You are on the Merrick Road, not far from Blue Point, the place that made the oyster famous. You look to the right and to the left, and, tacked to a tree, you see a sign and you try to read it, but the top of it has been shot off by a quail hunter. However, on the lower part you decipher, between the birdshot: ‘An inn what is an inn.’ ”
Welcome to Ye Anchorage Inn, as described in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1908. Your host is Capt. Bill Graham: huckster, artist, impresario, and roadside entrepreneur. He and his wife Molly ran the Inn from 1897 to 1920, creating a unique amalgam of tavern, hotel, hunting lodge, picnic ground, and Bohemian hot spot on the northwest corner of Montauk Highway and Kennedy Ave.
Graham’s clientele ranged from vaudevillians and silent movie stars to politicians, philosophers, and artists. Winsor McCay and Montgomery Flagg left sketches on the walls while early motorists made Ye Anchorage a must-see destination on their Long Island jaunts. Graham kept up a constant parade of promotional events, from his famous Sphinx statue (now in Bayport) to faux bullfights and horse raffles. He chronicled it all in his own personal magazine, The Log, full of stories, poems, artwork, and anything else he could think of.
In this episode, Blue Point historian Gene Horton details the history of Will Graham, the Irish immigrant who became a part of the history of the Great South Bay. Drawing on his vast research and collection, Gene paints a vivid picture of the man and his times.
**Further Research:**
- Books by Gene Horton (via WorldCat.org)
- Gene Horton on The History of Blue Point (Dowling Library Omnibus podcast #6. Skip to 11:06)
- Casa Basso/Theophilius Brouwer (via Westhampton Beach Historical Society)
- Elbert Hubbard: An American Original (PBS)
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/AddieSanders.mp3 Download audio
I Don’t Want to Go from Lobster Press Written by Addie Meyers, illustrations by Andrew Rowland ( Image from GoodReads)
A self-confessed Nancy Drew aficionado, Addie Meyers has followed her passion and made writing an integral part of her life, finding inspiration for her books from the wide range of her experiences. Here she discusses how she went from raising children in Sayville to teaching poetry in schools (Alligators, Monsters & Cool School Poems), researching dyslexia (The Upside Down Kids written with Dr. Harold N. Levinson) and swimming with dolphins (Top Fin.) She also discusses the writing process – refining concepts, finding the right publisher, and ignoring trends in favor of your own ideas. You’ll hear her read some of her poems and the picture book I Don’t Want to Go, revealing at the same time the secret to Grandpa’s super special tomato sauce.
Books by Addie Meyer Sanders via Worldcat.org
Further Research
- Nancy Drew and Friends (online exhibit from the University of Maryland Libraries)
- Judy Blume on the Web
- Theodor Geisel (Dr Seuss)
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/StuChamberlain.mp3 Download audio
Retired from a life in radio and television, Stuart Chamberlain can look back on the long hours, overnight shifts, small town stations, and manic deadlines with a smile. In this interview he recounts his path from WMAJ in State College, PA to ABC where he wrote and produced “World News This Week.” One of the highlights, however, was his time working with Paul Harvey in Chicago. Stu discusses his forays into acting and reveals an old connection to the Sayville Musical Workshop. Throughout Stu delivers a thoughtful disquisition on the state of radio and the news media along with a look at the work of Long Island stations like WLIM and WLNG.
Stu Chamberlain
Further Research
- Paul Harvey from the New York Times, March 2, 2009.
- The Amateur Comedy Club
- Dan Ingram from the Radio Hall of Fame
- WLNG Celebrates 50 Years” from Dan’s Papers
- WLIM 1580 Tribute from Wackradio
- Sayville Musical Workshop
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/ToveAbrams.mp3 Download audio
Tove Hasselriis Abrams was there at the beginning, four-and-a-half years old and watching her mother Karen perform in H.M.S. Pinafore at the old Sayville High School on Greene Avenue. That first group of performers went on to found the Sayville Musical Workshop. Tove soon joined in, starring as Gretel in Humperdinck’s opera of Hansel and Gretel. After a break for college and work, she returned to catch the eye of and marry Steve Abrams, the Workshop’s pianist.
One of the first community theaters in the country, the Sayville Musical Workshop produced musicals, dramas, and operettas until 1985. There’s a lot of theater lore in this interview, including the major impact Rodgers and Hammerstein had on community theater , Troy Donohue and Brian Dennehy’s time with the Workshop, and the role of community theaters in the post-World War II era.
Tove Abrams. (Photo courtesy of Tove Abrams)
Click to view slideshow. Further Research
- Hello, Dolly (1977) via the Sayville Public Library
- Sayville Musical Workshop Retrospective available at the Sayville Public Library
- Rodgers & Hammerstein
- Theatre Association of New York State
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/WarrenMcDowell.mp3 The summer of 1977 brought Star Wars, blackouts, and the first appearance of The Fire Island Tide. From that first 24-page Memorial Day edition, Warren McDowell’s dream grew to a 140-page color news magazine with poetry, history and artwork along with community news. Here Warren recounts that growth and the work it took: delivering papers every Friday by boat from Kismet to Watch Hill, dealing with national advertisers warily marketing to the “alternative lifestyle”, and loving every minute of it. Although clearly aware of the dangers facing newspapers (and radio stations) today, his message to those dreaming of starting their own: go for it!
Further Research
- “When a Paper Like the Tide Rolls In…”
New York Times, August 7, 2007 - Bill Plympton cartoons
- Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/Moriches.mp3
Download audio
Growing up in the Moriches, Mary Field noticed what most people didn’t. As old buildings were being torn down, she wondered who would remember what had gone before. What followed was a lifetime of interest in local history, culminating in books like The Illustrated History of the Moriches Bay Area and the 1881 Diary of Nettie Ketcham. In this interview she tells stories of old Moriches she learned from earlier generations and anecdotes from Nettie Ketcham’s experiences at the end of the 19th century. Mary also recounts the work of her husband Van, a ham radio operator, historian of Long Island shipwrecks, and participant in the LORAN Project from World War II.
Books by Van and Mary Field via WorldCat.org
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/KetchamInn.mp3
Download audio
The 1989 fire that nearly destroyed the Terry-Ketcham Inn brought Bert Seides to tears but it also set him on the road to saving the historic Moriches landmark. Building from a small group of volunteers meeting around Mary and Van Field’s kitchen table, Bert marshaled support and learned to navigate a maze of regulations, paperwork, and government agencies to bring the 1693 Inn back to life. In this discussion he provides a road map for preservation projects and reveals the hard work involved, from painstaking research to outreach programs to, of course, book sales.
The Ketcham Inn Foundation
The Terry Ketcham Inn courtesy of the Ketcham Inn Foundation
Further Research
- Moriches Bay Historical Society
- New York State Historic Preservation Office
- LORAN on Long Island in Word War II from the U.S. Coast Guard Oral History Program
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/GeorgeMunkenbeck.mp3 His full name was about as long and storied as his career: Philippe Regis Denis de Keredern de Trobriand. He was a Baron, a novelist, a painter, a gardener, a member of the Garde Lafayette (Fifty-fifth New York), a hero of Gettysburg, and summertime resident of Bayport.
Historian George Munkenbeck (Co. H, 14th Brooklyn) recaps the fascinating life of this “soldier’s soldier”, including his time in the Dakota Territory and his marriage to New York heiress Mary Mason-Jones.
Major-General Regis de Trobriand Courtesy of the Library of Congress, LC-DIG-cwpb-06299
Major-General Trobriand is buried in Union Cemetery in Sayville, NY.
Further Research
- Our Noble Blood: The Civil War Letters of General Regis Trobriand via WorldCat.org
- The Life and Memoirs of Comte Regis de Trobriand via Google Books
- George Munkenbeck on the military careers of the Ludlow family of Oakdale (Part 1 and Part 2)
http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/MartyHimes.mp3
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Photo courtesy of the Marty Himes Collection.
Long Island at the turn of the last century was a dream come true for early racing enthusiasts: miles and miles of flat open roads. In this interview, Marty Himes relates the history of auto racing on Long Island, from the early days of the Vanderbilt Cup Races to the post-WWII boom in midget car and stock car racing. Marty is himself a racer, starting the day he rolled his home-made soapbox derby car onto the track at Freeport Stadium. Learn more about the museum he has created to preserve the history of this fascinating aspect of Long Island’s history.
The Himes Museum of Motor Racing Nostalgia
Tickets for the Freeport Speedway.
Further Research
- Freeport Speedway Alumni on Facebook
- Vanderbilt Cup Races from Howard Kroplick at vanderbiltcupraces.com
- Islip Speedway from LongIsland70sKid.com
Welcome to the lives and times of The Home Grown String Band. Rick and Georgianne Jackofsky have been performing old time traditional music with their daughters Erica and Annalee since 1997. In this interview you’ll hear how they got their start along with tales from the road as well as a leisurely tour through the intertwining histories of old-time music, bluegrass, radio and television. The talk leads from Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs to the Carter Family, Andy Griffith, and why there’s so little Long Island-specific music history.
The Homegrown String Band
Further Research
- R.A. Fountain Home Page
- Gourd Banjos: From Africa to the Appalachians
- A Brief History of Bluegrass Music
- Dr. John Brinkley